Densho Digital Archive - Bill Takemoto Interview

<Begin Segment 1>

FK: What were your parents' names and where did they come from?

BT: My father is Saichi Takemoto from Yamaguchi-ken, on an island just like Bainbridge Island. And same with my mother, she was Yone Takemoto. They lived about a mile apart, different town, but same island.

FK: So were they married when they both came over here to the United States?

BT: No. Well, when they both came over, but then there was another life for my father before that. Him and his three brothers came to Hawaii, and then I don't remember which was the oldest or what, but two of 'em came, after a while in Hawaii, they came to the Seattle area, and the other one stayed in Hawaii. They lived in Seattle, my father and his brother, and then his brother died. He's buried in Capitol Hill in Seattle. Then I don't know what year, but they bought a place on Bainbridge Island. Again, I don't know what year, but he arranged for a matchmaker to get a wife in Japan. And I don't know what year that was, but the wife died at childbirth, and their daughter survived. I didn't get this from my parents because it was a subject that they never discussed. This daughter was either adopted by somebody else, but never did live with us. So when she died, I guess they went back to the same matchmaker and he married her sister. And then they came, arrived in Seattle in 1921. Well, my older brother, and me, and the rest of 'em arrived.

[Interruption]

FK: So actually, your dad then moved to the island earlier than the 1920s, is that right?

BT: Yeah. I don't know when.

FK: Well, what did your, what did your family do for a living, then?

BT: They were in farming, strawberries, peas for a while, primarily strawberries.

FK: Where did you bring your berries?

BT: I'm sorry?

FK: Where did you bring your berries?

BT: Well, earliest I can remember, they had a cannery in Winslow, and they, I guess you'd call it the head of the bay or something, and that's where we brought strawberries. But later on, they closed the cannery and seems like they would have a pick-up point and then they'd bring all the strawberries to Seattle to be canned.

FK: So how many kids in your family? Who are the kids in your family?

BT: Well, there's Vic, myself, Roy, Fred, James and Teruko.

<Begin Segment 2>

FK: Now, what was it like growing up on the island at that time? You have neighbors, where did you live? What was the first place you lived?

BT: We lived on what currently is called Lofgren Road, Highway 305, that intersection there on southwest quadrant of that corner.

FK: So did your parents always live there or did they live anywhere else on the island before that?

BT: That's the only place that I know of.

FK: So did they purchase the land or what happened?

BT: Well, I guess it was purchased, but it was under, as aliens, they couldn't own land. It was under, I think Vic's name.

FK: What was it like growing up on the island as far as when you were younger and going to school and so forth?

BT: It was pretty crude. I mean, we didn't have electricity until the late '30s, or running water or anything, We went out to the well and pumped, brought it in and things like that. It was pretty basic living, I guess you'd call it.

FK: What was school like?

BT: School... I don't remember too much in detail, but I know that I failed first grade, because I guess I had limited English ability, and went to school at Lincoln grade school there, intersection of, is it Madison and Winslow Way, is it?

FK: Yeah.

BT: Yeah. First through the seventh grade there. Didn't finish seventh grade because that's when the war started.

FK: So what did you do as kids for fun at that time?

BT: A lot of work. [Laughs] On the strawberry farm. But we didn't have any neighbors real close. We had a couple of neighbors, but they were childless. But nearest neighbor with kids was about three quarters of a mile away. You remember the Beeches? I remember we went up there to play a lot.

FK: So what was a typical day for you as far as working on the farm and stuff?

BT: Typical day, it was work dawn to dark. But the wintertime there was not too much work. It was pretty basic playing. We didn't have toys and things like that in them days.

[Interruption]

FK: So did your family ever take any trips anywhere or go to Seattle, or was it mostly working on the farm all the time?

BT: Yeah, that's about it. Maybe once a year to Seattle.

FK: What would you do when you went to Seattle?

BT: Well, I remember going to the dentist one time. [Laughs] Other than that, I don't remember. You asked me what did we do for recreation, well, we did a lot of fishing and clam digging off the docks.

FK: Where would you go to do that?

BT: Along, they used to have a dock down there.

FK: So there were lots of clams and fish at that time?

BT: Yeah, also Port Madison Bay they had clams, seaweed, picking seaweed.

<Begin Segment 3>

FK: Now you said you were in seventh grade when you had to leave. What do you remember about finding out that you had to leave?

BT: I don't remember my inner feelings at the time. I was only thirteen years old. I guess it was kind of a relief, too, from work. [Laughs]

FK: On the farm?

BT: Yeah. And when you went to camp, you didn't do nothing except play.

FK: Do you remember anything about that day that we left?

BT: Yeah, I remember a truck coming to our house, one of them army trucks with the canvas top and a bench seat in the back. Soldiers with bayonets, that's about it. I don't really remember going on the ferry, but I see pictures. There's one picture that shows us going down the ramp to the ferry, and our family was on the head of the list there behind the sentry. Except Vic, he wasn't in the picture. I don't know where he was, but the rest of the family is in the head of the line on that picture.

FK: Do you remember any of your Caucasian friends or their feelings or their attitudes?

BT: Their attitude?

FK: Yeah, when they found out you were leaving and so forth?

BT: No, I don't recall ever observing that.

FK: Was there any change in feeling at the school when they got the notice that we had to leave in six days?

BT: Not that I remember.

FK: Do you remember anything about the ferry trip?

BT: The ferry trip itself I don't, but I remember going across Alaskan Way to the train.

FK: How about the train ride?

BT: Yeah, the train ride, I remember it was a nice train, we had Pullman sleepers. I remember the soldiers being real friendly, playing cards with us and things like that.

FK: Now when you got to California and put on the bus and saw where you were actually going to be staying, did you have any reactions to that?

BT: Well, it's kind of shocking. The area is nothing like Washington. Desert and I think it was pretty warm that day. Yeah, it was just a different environment that was different, that I'd never seen up to that time.

FK: Now were your parents arrested or anything before that because of being aliens?

BT: No.

<Begin Segment 4>

FK: So tell me about camp life for you.

BT: Camp life. We just, as kids, we played, all we did was play. Play basketball, they had a basketball court out there in the block. We lined up for chow, eat with our friends, not with our family. It wasn't, it was kind of fun compared to working on the farm.

FK: How did your parents react? Was there any reaction on their part?

BT: No, I don't recall. I don't recall their reaction. They worked in the mess hall, by the way.

FK: So what was school in concentration camp like?

BT: School, I don't know. The facilities were a lot different, and the barracks, tarpaper shack barracks, I don't know. The environment was different was the main thing, I guess.

FK: So what do you remember doing in camp as a kid? What are the things you remember?

BT: Well, you know, there was a little creek that run through the camp there on the southwest corner of the camp, and we'd go there for swimming and things like that.

[Interruption]

FK: So you said there was a creek in camp?

BT: Yeah, there was a creek that ran through the southwest corner of the camp, and then a little park there. It wasn't too far from Block 3 that we lived in.

FK: So what did you do there?

BT: Well, we'd go swimming and things like that. There was also a golf course there once at the west side of the camp. It was all sand. I remember playing with Ken Nakata once.

FK: So Ken was about your age?

BT: He was... he's a little older than me, maybe four years or something like that.

FK: So you said that when you ate, you ate with your friends more than your family. Now, were most of your friends in the same block?

BT: Yeah.

FK: Yeah? So they were mostly from Bainbridge?

BT: Yeah. I remember... what's Ken's wife's name?

FK: Kitayama.

BT: Yeah. Ted and Ki and Takahashis. I think there were some kids that weren't from Bainbridge Island, too. This was after most of the Bainbridge Island people went to Minidoka and some other people moved in.

FK: So how many families stayed in Manzanar?

BT: Gee, I don't know how many, but I remember we stayed and Nakatas stayed. I can't think of any other. I know there probably were, but I can't remember.

FK: So did you have any feelings when everybody else left and a few of you guys stayed in Manzanar?

BT: I don't remember my feelings at the time. I think primarily most people moved because they had friends from Seattle at Minidoka. We didn't have any close friends in Seattle, so I guess that's why he chose, the families chose to stay.

FK: When they started asking for volunteers out of the camps and stuff, did anybody you know go in the service?

BT: Nobody I knew. I remember Gerald Nakata, I don't know when he entered, but I remember him coming back for a visit one time.

FK: Now, did you ever end up in the service or any of your brothers?

BT: Not during wartime, but after the war.

FK: After the war.

<Begin Segment 5>

BT: So you went in the service then?

FK: Yeah.

BT: What year was that?

FK: 1948?

BT: '48.

FK: So what did you do in the service?

BT: United States Air Force, I was primarily an airplane and engine mechanic, and later I started flying as a flight engineer. You had to have a maintenance background at that time. I spent the rest of my career flying as a flight engineer.

FK: What did you fly in?

BT: Well, initially a C-54 which is a DC-4. And then after that, a C-124 cargo airplane, clamshell doors open up in front. I flew that for fifteen years. And then we went to jets, Lockheed C-141. And then I got out in 1968.

FK: So did you serve in any of the wars then?

BT: Yeah, during the Korean War, the Vietnam War.

FK: So you went overseas for those?

BT: Yeah, we were flying overseas all the time. During the Korean War, I didn't get to Korea, but we flew from stateside to Japan. And then during the Korean War we were always going into Vietnam and delivering cargo and passengers and carrying out bodies.

FK: So you were kind of career guy, then?

BT: Huh?

FK: You were a career person in the Air Force, pretty much?

BT: Yeah, twenty years I put in.

FK: So where were you stationed most of the time then?

BT: Oh, I can name the places, but San Antonio, Biloxi, Mississippi, McChord, Tacoma, Moses Lake, Anchorage, Rantoul, Illinois, Palm Beach, Florida, Anchorage, Alaska, Tokyo.

FK: So do you have a family of your own?

BT: Oh, yes.

FK: Were you married during that time, or what?

BT: I was married, I married a woman that I met in Japan, Tokyo.

FK: So what year did you get married?

BT: 1963.

FK: That was close to retirement or just before?

BT: That was about four years before retirement.

FK: So she was a, was she a Japanese national then?

BT: Yes, she was a Japanese national. She worked at the Air Force base at dental claims, she was a dental assistant. If it hadn't been for my bad teeth, I probably never would have met her. [Laughs]

FK: So what do you think about this memorial we're doing out there?

BT: I think it's great. It's a reminder for future generations of what happened. You people are commended for your efforts.

<Begin Segment 6>

FK: When you came back to Bainbridge, did the whole family come back at the same time?

BT: All except Vic. Vic wanted to finish his senior year at Manzanar.

FK: You guys came back early, didn't you?

BT: April.

FK: Yeah, first family. So what was it like when you came back to the island?

BT: Well, weather-wise, it was shocking because it was cold and dreary compared to sunshine down there. But our house was all broken into and everything, no windows. So it was kind of rough for a little while.

FK: Did you have someone looking after your farm when you were gone?

BT: Well, we got evacuated in April, so we had a crop of strawberries that he, my father, I guess he contracted out to some person to harvest it. What was the original question?

FK: Did you have someone looking after your farm for you while you were gone?

BT: After that, no. Except the neighbors, they looked after some of our properties like the truck. I guess we didn't have a whole lot.

FK: Who were your neighbors?

BT: There was a family, I don't know whether you know Engstrom, Bob Engstrom, he used to be a captain on the ferry here. His parents, he was there, too. Them, primarily. Like I say, we didn't have too much property that was that valuable.

FK: So when you... was there some sort of decision made when you left? Because it seemed like that was earlier than most people were leaving, so did your dad or somebody decide, hey, we're just going to get out of here as soon as we can?

BT: Oh, you mean out of Manzanar?

FK: Out of Manzanar, yeah.

BT: Well, I guess he wanted to, he had to start a crop of strawberries, and planting is in April, so I think that's the reason that we came back. If he had waited until later, be another couple of years before another crop.

FK: So what were your feelings when you saw your house and the windows were gone and things like that?

BT: I'm sure it wasn't great, but I don't remember it exactly.

FK: So you guys just started right in repairing?

BT: Yeah, I guess. My father was in charge. [Laughs]

FK: And you probably enjoyed getting back to the berries, right? [Laughs] So when you came back then, how old were you?

BT: I guess I was down there three years, so I was sixteen.

FK: So you actually went back into Bainbridge High School.

BT: Yeah, finished that year. It was a couple months, I guess.

FK: So what was that like, going back to Bainbridge High School?

BT: Gee, I don't recall that too much, what happened that year. I guess I saw some of my old friends, classmates, lot more mature.

FK: So when you graduated, what did you decide you were going to do?

BT: Well, I went sophomore and senior year there. I wasn't college material, so the Air Force gave me a good opportunity to choose a career before I went in. You apply for a school before you got in, so I think that was a pretty good deal.

FK: Well, did you face any animosity or any things like that because you were Japanese and the war just ended and so forth?

BT: Not outwardly. I'm sure they were probably talking behind my back or something, but I didn't detect any outward hostility. Maybe I was too dumb to recognize it. [Laughs]

FK: Okay. So your mother and father pretty much went back to farming, right? And then as... let's see, where were you in the family? You were the third?

BT: I'm the second oldest.

FK: The second oldest, okay. So when you left and Vic graduated and all that from high school and stuff, did Vic come back and farm, too, or what happened there?

BT: Oh, I was helping out for about six months and then I joined the Air Force.

FK: Yeah. So the farm continued with your, with the other brothers?

BT: Yeah.

FK: Now, how long did your family farm?

BT: Oh, quite a while. 'Til the '70s, I think. My father died in 1972, so up to that time.

FK: Now, do you guys still own the land there?

BT: Yeah, we got about, we had ten acres but the state took part of it for the route. Yeah, it's still under my father's name, but my sister is paying the taxes from our... well, we got the assets before my mother passed away, before she even went in the nursing home. Because she was getting where she couldn't handle the finances.

<Begin Segment 7>

FK: So do you ever talk to your children about your experiences as far as being forced to go to camp?

BT: Oh, yeah. My daughter's pretty interested in it. I think she wrote a paper during university on the evacuation.

FK: So what are your feelings about what happened as far as having to leave your home and stuff?

BT: Well, at the time, I didn't think too much, but later I come to realize how unjust it was.

FK: Did any other kids in your family...

BT: Yeah, I got a daughter and a son. Let's see, one's born in '64 and the other '66.

FK: What would you like this memorial we're doing to say to other people? What do you think is important for us to say there?

BT: Well, it's there to remind people what had happened and what could happen in the future.

FK: So what do you think is gonna happen in the future?

BT: Well, I think it's like the Arab hostility right now. I don't know whether they could evacuate that many people, but, yeah, I think it's to prevent future mistakes like that.

FK: What kind of effect do you think being sent to camp had on the people of Japanese descent that live here?

BT: Oh, that's a question I haven't pondered. I think I would have to think about that a while.

FK: Do you think there was a reason why most of us didn't speak out or protest or anything like that?

BT: I think it was due to... well, we didn't have political power at the time, and I think it's because of the generation that came over here, they didn't do that in the country they came from. You didn't protest it, you respected authority. I think that's probably the main reason.

FK: Looking back on things, do you have any comments or feelings about the people that actually resisted being drafted and didn't go into the service during that time?

BT: Yeah, that's a touchy subject. In a way, they were pretty brave. But I don't think I would have done it. [Laughs]

FK: Why not?

BT: Well, I think I would have done better by serving. I mean, I think it would have done the group better if we proved our loyalty. But they might say that they were proving loyalty by resisting. It's a hard subject.

FK: When you talk to your kids about your experiences in the service or concentration camp time, what things are important to you that they understand about what you went through?

BT: Gee, that's a hard question for me to answer. My daughter's pretty well interested in the subject, so she's researched it and all that. I don't think I could tell her anything. [Laughs]

FK: That she doesn't already know, huh? [Laughs] I see. Well, what question do you think she'd ask you if she had a chance to ask you?

BT: Gee, I don't know. I know she wants to go down to where I was, you know.

FK: You mean Manzanar?

BT: Yes. They now have a... what do you call it?

FK: Interpretive center?

BT: Yeah. And when I went down there, they didn't have that.

FK: Do you think what you went through has affected your children and their outlook on life?

BT: Well, I don't think so. I think they're pretty well adjusted. They assimilated pretty well into the community. She married a Caucasian, had three kids.

FK: Has she ever told you why knowing about the internment and things like that were important to her? Has she ever talked about that?

BT: No. I never really discussed that with her.

FK: Do you have any feelings about why that might be to her?

BT: I'm sorry?

FK: Why it might be important to her? 'Cause it sounds like she's really done a lot of studying about it.

BT: Well, I don't know why she chose that subject to write a paper on. She majored in Far Eastern Studies. Maybe that's why, I don't know.

FK: What do you think the difference between the Sanseis and the Niseis are?

BT: I think they're more assimilated into the society, I guess you'd call it. They're not... well, in our day, we had to watch what we were doing. We didn't know where we could live. Not legally, but you don't want to live someplace where you're not welcome. The current generation don't have to, they don't worry about that. Don't have to worry about that. I think we made a great investment in that respect.

FK: What kind of, thinking back, what kind of influence do you think your mother and dad had on what you think and how you respond to things, and Isseis in general had on the Niseis.

BT: Well, I guess we adopted some of their, I don't know whether to say custom or what, but for example, "don't bring shame on your family" and things like that that Japanese are great for.

FK: Were there any other things they used to tell you to be careful about or what you should do?

BT: That's the main one that comes to mind. I guess to respect authority, which could be bad. [Laughs]

FK: Yeah. Well, do you think any of their influence on us has been passed on to our children, too, or do you think we've avoided that?

BT: I think less so than our parents to us, far less, I think.

FK: Well, are there any, excuse me, are there any messages or anything you'd like to have people know, or any feelings or any things you have that you'd like people to know that we haven't asked you about?

BT: No, I can't think of anything at the moment.

<Begin Segment 8>

FK: How did you find out about Pearl Harbor?

BT: I remember it was a nice winter day, and I was outside doing something, I don't remember what. But we had the radio going on the outside and that's how I heard about it first.

FK: Did you have a feeling or a reaction when you heard that?

BT: Well, I don't remember. I know that I wasn't celebrating, but other than that, I don't remember my inner feelings at the time.

FK: Did you have any conflicts or confusions about being Japanese American and not being a Japanese national, seeming like people were confused between the two things?

BT: Yeah, I encountered that a lot. Like you go to areas of the country that don't have Asians or Japanese Americans, they marvel at how you can speak English and things like that.

FK: Now, how would you react if somebody said that to you?

BT: I try to be polite, but my mind is thinking.

FK: What's your mind thinking?

BT: Well, I don't blame them, but it's just that they hadn't been told or not roundly educated, or racist. [Laughs]

FK: Now as a Japanese American person in Japan, how did the Japanese react to people that were Japanese Americans?

BT: You know, the people you know, there's no problem. But I don't know what the people that you don't know.

FK: Was there any conflict in your wife's family when you decided to get married?

BT: No, there was no... her family is only her mother and her sister. Finally took off someplace early in her life.

FK: So as soon as you got married, did you move to the States or did you live there for a while?

BT: Well, I lived there about four months. I'd been over there four years already.

FK: So you must have spoken Japanese pretty well then.

BT: Well, you don't get much opportunity to speak when you're in the military, American airbase. My Japanese was very poor. I guess I was, I talked to my houseboy quite a bit. I wasn't worried about my grammar with him. [Laughs]

FK: Well, if your future wife worked on the base, she must have known English.

BT: Oh, yeah. She was, we'd primarily talk English to each other. English is difficult for a Japanese person. But she mastered it pretty good, I think.

FK: Did she have much of an adjustment when you moved over to the States?

BT: No, no adjustment. She gets along with, I should say, Caucasian Americans. She's very sociable, unlike me. [Laughs]

FK: So how you end up, excuse me, how did you end up in Kent?

BT: Well, when I retired from the Air Force, or even before I retired, some of my friends went to work for Boeing in flight crew training. And they asked me to join them and they set up an interview for me. They hired me as an instructor flight engineer, and I was living at McChord on base. And went looking for a home, and that's where I settled, I guess.

FK: So how long did you work for Boeing?

BT: Twenty-four years.

<Begin Segment 9>

FK: Do you remember anything about the riot in Manzanar?

BT: Yeah, I remember, but I didn't see much. I only know what I read since then. That's about the only thing I can remember. Nothing happened directly with me. I wasn't out demonstrating or anything.

FK: Do you remember it being talked about in camp and stuff?

BT: I don't remember talking about it with anybody. But I think I detected a lot of soldiers running around in their vehicles. But other than that, I don't remember anything about it.

FK: Do you remember anything about the "loyalty questionnaire"?

BT: No, I was too young to take it, and I guess my parents must have said "yes-yes" or whatever, because we didn't get, we didn't go to Tule Lake.

FK: So how much older than you was Vic?

BT: Two years.

FK: Two years older? So he would have been, he wouldn't have been seventeen yet, either, at that time, was he?

BT: He was born 1926. He didn't get called, did he? Maybe he was 4-F, medically... I don't remember what was wrong with him. He wears glasses, but I don't think that stops. But he graduated from high school in '45 down in Manzanar.

FK: Down in Manzanar?

BT: Yeah.

FK: So what do you remember about the trip home? Did you guys catch a train or catch a car, or get a car, or what happened?

BT: You know, I don't remember the ride home. We must have went home the same way. When we went down there, we went from Seattle, on a train from Seattle to Mojave, and then switched to a bus and rode the bus to Manzanar. We must have done that in reverse, but I don't remember.

FK: Do you remember the ferry trip at all?

BT: Coming back?

FK: Yeah.

BT: No. I guess I got a bad memory. [Laughs]

FK: Do you remember anybody having any bad feelings about you guys when you first came back to the island or anything like that?

BT: Say again?

FK: Giving you a hard time or anything like that when you first came back to the island?

BT: No, I didn't detect anything.

FK: Yeah. All right, thank you. Thank you very much.