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BY: All right. So then the announcement comes that your family and other Japanese Americans are going to be, going to have to leave their homes and go someplace else. Do you remember that time? What did your family do to get ready to leave? Do you remember how your parents felt at that time, just that whole...

MK: No, everybody was so busy, I remember, I just stayed out of the way. But I figured it didn't affect me to that effect because I didn't have to do anything, I guess.

BY: Do you remember having to decide what you were going to... like were there toys or dolls or anything that, when you personally had to make a decision or a choice about what to take with you?

MK: No, nothing about that. But I do know we moved because my father, his sister who sponsored. He felt responsible for her all her life. They were real close. And she was dependent on him because her husband died. And so we moved to their crowded house to get evacuated with...

BY: Oh, so he wanted to be with her so that when you were...

MK: Yeah. When they found out they had different days for different areas. So I remember we lived there for a day or two or whatever so that we would go (together). So I ended up at Puyallup without my friend like Mich Inouye because they went on a different day and ended up in a different area.

BY: I see. Now did your aunt, so did she have a bunch of kids then?

MK: What?

BY: Your aunt and uncle. Your father's sister, did she have a bunch of children?

MK: No, she had three and they died fairly early. She ended up with one.

BY: Okay, so when you move to her house for a few days then, it was all of your family. Well, actually, talk about this. So your brother was gone. Were all your sisters at home at that time?

MK: (No, Dorothy had moved to work in Washington, D.C.)

BY: Oh, you were all there.

MK: Yeah, so I often wondered where we slept, because I remember it's a small house. And I think they were renting it, unless my father bought it, because he always, she came first. When the mushroom season started, she got it first.

BY: So he was very devoted.

MK: Very devoted to a point where she was... you know, she just deserved everything and she always appreciated it so much.

BY: Do you feel... was your mother upset by that at all, do you think, or not?

MK: No. Well, she kind of resented it, but then she knew...

BY: Why, yeah. Okay, so what did your father do at that time? What did he do about the house and all his businesses right before you went to Puyallup to make arrangements for that?

MK: You know, I don't know what he did, but it ended up that he found a Caucasian lady from Everett to take over the house to rent it, take care of it. And on the furniture store, he was on rented property, I'm assuming, so I don't know what happened. They had a big sale.

BY: Yeah, I was going to ask about that. Do you remember that?

MK: I remember he had a removal sale, big sign, I remember that. But he might have sold a lot. He was real good friends with this Bushell auction (company). I think it was a Jewish family, brothers or something, that ran it, because he learned some Jewish words... but I'm thinking they must have helped somehow to (auction) furniture there.

BY: Right. Because he must have had a lot of stuff. I mean, he had the house and stores and all the stuff. Did he have a car?

MK: Oh, yeah. He always had a (car so)... I always thought, everybody had cars. And somebody told me, "Everybody doesn't have a car." [Laughs] Because my father always had a car and we had two trucks.

BY: Do you remember what happened to the car and the trucks?

MK: No. And I was, like I said, I was left out of everything and just had to stay out of the way. So Frank always had to watch me for everything.

MK: What a good big brother he was.

BY: Did you have any pets?

MK: No. We weren't allowed to because there were so many strays. So to this day, I won't touch a dog or a cat. I'm scared of them.

BY: Interesting.

MK: You know, because we lived in a place (with tenants), and I'm sure some of them had animals. But my parents wouldn't allow us to have them. And they didn't like cats and dogs either.

BY: Okay.

<End Segment 14> - Copyright © 2022 Densho. All Rights Reserved.