<Begin Segment 9>

LH: Now, how old were you at the time when Pearl Harbor came?

MS: I guess I was about six. Just turned six, I think.

LH: And how did you first become aware that something was happening, something was wrong?

MS: Well, I think you could sense the parents' and adults' anxiety, and there was a lot of hushed tones and conversations. They didn't want to really involve us as kids because they knew we would have no understanding of this. I do know that there was all this -- they seemed to be very unhappy, a lot of arguing, a lot of hustling around trying to get organized is all I remember. And we seemed to be in the way, I just remember that.

LH: Did you overhear any of the arguments?

MS: Well, I know one of the major arguments was that my dad wanted to go back to Japan because he felt that America was not a good place for us to be at that time. And my mother absolutely refused to go back. She says, "There's nothing there for us," so she said, "No," and he kept insisting. And up until then my dad was always the decision maker. Everything he said, went. So it was kind of surprising to me that I could hear her voice raised, the first time, and when she said, "No, you could go back but I will keep the kids and I will stay here." And I guess he knew that she was serious at that point. So I think it took place, he changed his mind, after we were visited by some FBI agents. Apparently all the people were being visited in various households.

<End Segment 9> - Copyright © 1997 Densho. All Rights Reserved.