<Begin Segment 16>

TI: So you mentioned this date of May 2nd that you had to leave. And this wasn't to leave to a camp, it was actually to, it's called the "voluntary evacuation" period.

TH: Get out of Zone 1.

TI: So do you know what conversations were being had by your family in terms of deciding to do that rather than go to a camp?

TH: My dad read about concentration camps, I don't know where, but he didn't want to take us to the concentration camp. In a way, the way it ended up, I never saw my mother cry that much. When we got to Ontario, we didn't have any place to live, and didn't have food, so she said we should have gone to camp. Because when we got to Ontario, people wouldn't rent us a house because the neighbors were complaining. It was a different kind of life for my parents.

TI: And so tell me, okay, so your family at this point is you, your brother, your sister and your parents? So you're all together packing up, and what kind of vehicle did you have? Was it a truck?

TH: It was a ton and a half truck.

TI: Wow, so it was a big truck.

TH: Uh-huh, yeah.

TI: And what did you carry in the back, or how did you all do this? So was it, like, three people in the cab and two people in the back or something?

TH: And one cat. We took my little cat that I had. But somewhere or another, we got in there, three of us.

TI: And then in the truck, what did you bring?

TH: Oh, just our clothing, mostly, probably. That I don't remember.

TI: Any furniture like dresses or stuff like that?

TH: We left all that.

TI: And did you go with any other families?

TH: There was other families that did go, like the Inahara family, they took a different route because they thought, if they went the way we did -- we went through Pendleton and down -- they would have more trouble getting gas in case they ran out of gas. And they took a big tank full of gas on their truck. But we didn't have any trouble. When we got to the Blue Mountains, by then it was pretty late at night, and we stopped, my dad stopped at a, kind of a rundown motel. And this man was very sympathetic, he said, "I'll give you as much gas as you want and you can stay. You don't have to pay, you can stay in our motel," which wasn't real fancy, but it was fine. So we were lucky.

TI: It does seem like that was a very kind gesture.

TH: It was a very kind man. It's not on the West Coast, it's more on the, near Idaho in the Blue Mountains.

TI: Can you remember, like, what town that was in or anything that would...

TH: I don't. And every time we used to go to Ontario, I used to look to see if I could recognize it, but it's all changed around there.

TI: That's a good story.

BY: So your family went all by themselves to Ontario, but did your parents know that there were other -- how was it they chose Ontario? Did they know that there were other Japanese families there?

TH: Well, there was only Watanabes and Saitos. They were longtime residents there. And it was Mr. Watanabe that found this house that my dad, or we could all live in, or stay in. And that's the house that the people said, no, there would be too many Japanese, so, "Sorry, we can't rent it to you."

BY: And how did you get to know the Watanabes?

TH: I think it was Mr. Hasuiki knew about Mr. Watanabe. Didn't know him personally, but I guess maybe did, because he must have written to 'em or something.

BY: Were they all from Hiroshima-ken?

TH: That I don't remember. How they stick together?

BY: Yeah.

TH: So it's possible.

TI: And then you told that story that, when you got there and the house wasn't available, your mom, you said, she just cried and cried.

TH: Yeah. I imagine -- oh, she was thirty-nine years old, your parents too, or grandparents would be about that age. So thirty-nine, forty, my dad was in his fifties, because fifteen years' difference.

<End Segment 16> - Copyright © 2022 Densho. All Rights Reserved.