<Begin Segment 3>

EG: And not particularly eventful during that time until the war was approaching. As a youngster you would have been what? Nine years old?

PT: Yes, I was the nine years old.

EG: As those times were approaching, what kind of an impact did they make on you as a nine year old?

PT: Well actually I... it really didn't make that much of an impact on me.

EG: Yeah, of course.

PT: I just heard that there was some kind of problem at Pearl Harbor, and my mother just mentioned to me, "Oh, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor." That's all I remember, but she said maybe this might mean some different experiences for us. I mean, that's about all I remember.

EG: And then, events began to happen around you.

PT: Yes.

EG: How did that register with you?

PT: I guess as a child, I mean, you just sort of accept things as they happen and just go along with what goes on.

EG: And what did happen?

PT: I remember we had to get immunizations, before we went to camp. And so, I remember in grade school, we could not participate in PE because our arms were so sore from all the shots. [Laughs] And then, I remember the posters on the telephone poles with some kind of notice to all persons of Japanese ancestry. Those are some of the things that I remember. And I remember just before going into camp, that there were many people coming over to the house to buy some of our furniture, and my toys, our personal possessions.

(Narr. note: Also, my father decided to destroy "things Japanese" so he burned photos of relatives in Japan, my mother's biwa (short-handled lute) which was custom crafted in Kyoto, and my complete set of Girl's Day dolls and accessories. I recall each doll was signed by the doll maker and came in its own cedar box. I'm sure that if I still had those dolls today, they would be very precious and valuable.)

EG: How did you understand what was happening here, that these things were going on? What did your parents say to you?

PT: I remember my mother telling me that, well, because we're of Japanese descent or you are of Japanese descent and I am from Japan, she was from Japan, the government has decided that we must go to camp.

EG: What did camp mean to you as a ten year old?

PT: It didn't mean much, it just meant moving somewhere else. [Laughs]

EG: Yeah.

<End Segment 3> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.