<Begin Segment 28>

DG: Okay, let's talk, let's talk about JACL. Okay. And Toru, you joined JACL before the war in Puyallup. Tell me again how that got started.

TS: Well I was a member, but not an officer of the Puyallup Valley Chapter. And I recall being selected as one of the representatives of the Seattle Chapter to attend an emergency meeting of the National JACL in San Francisco after the announcement of exclusion and evacuation orders. And we went down by auto to attend that emergency meeting in San Francisco.

DG: And then so after the war when you came back, how soon did that organization activate?

TS: If you are referring to JACL, those who were interested in JACL talked about reforming or reorganizing the JACL into a Seattle Chapter, and three of us appointed each other, or met with each other and kept the Chapter alive, namely as a organizing committee consisting of Joe Hirabayashi, Mrs. Shigeko Uno and myself. I think this was in 1940s. Later in 1950s, I became Seattle Chapter president.

DG: Well let's, let's, before we go there, let's talk about some of the things that you got involved with SJR 20.

KS: Yeah.

TS: Well, that was a campaign in which the Seattle Chapter took leading role.

[Interruption]

TS: The National JACL remained active during and throughout World War II and as people returned to their former residences, they encouraged a reactivation of local chapters. Among those were the Seattle Chapter.

<End Segment 28> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.