<Begin Segment 10>

MN: So did you bring seeds into Manzanar?

AK: No. I, we didn't know what it's gonna be like. We thought it might be just like a jailhouse in L.A., just barred, no yard or anything. When I found out that there's a little area between the barracks, so I ordered some seeds or I had some seeds sent, and nobody said anything so I just kept on going.

MN: Didn't you have any rabbit problems?

AK: We did, but then, and then so many people, they didn't come around, but at night time you never can tell. Anyway, I built a fence, not for the rabbit but the other people, 'cause I didn't want them to steal my vegetables. [Laughs] So I built a fence so that nothing could get in there.

MN: What kind of vegetables were you growing?

AK: Easy stuff like carrots and tomatoes and, I don't know, whatever would grow. Some of 'em, some of the vegetables didn't grow 'cause it's too hot. I tried everything. Whatever survived, I kept on growing it.

MN: Did people have any problems with you growing a garden?

AK: No.

MN: Now, Manzanar had a riot in December 1942. Do you remember that?

AK: Yeah.

MN: Where were you?

AK: Well, I was, I was way... gee, I forgot what block it was we were in. I just remember it was cold, 'cause I remember I was wearing an overcoat, and then I just wound up following where they, going where they're, what they were doing. I didn't do anything. I just want to observe what they're doing. And everybody was angry, but I didn't participate in destroying anything.

[Interruption]

MN: So I want to ask you, in 1943 the government issued the "loyalty questionnaire," was that an issue with you?

AK: Well, I didn't, it was "yes" or "no," and "yes" was if, defend, if we were invaded, would... and no, I put "no" for volunteering. That's about all I remember.

MN: Now, since you are not "yes-yes," did the administration ever come and question you?

AK: No. Well, in the questionnaire and everything, it asked all kinds of questions, and I wrote down that I'm supporting four sisters, so maybe that... the younger sisters, so they didn't bother me.

MN: Yeah, you wouldn't be eligible for the draft anyways. You were head of the household. You were sharing about how you got arrested at Manzanar. What did you do?

AK: Well, there was a truck that'd come into camp, and a lot of the "no-no" people -- you know the "no-no" people -- they put them on the truck and took 'em to the railroad station. And I went with 'em and when the truck was empty, I was the only one left on the truck, so they put me in jail, I don't know how many days.

MN: So you didn't have a permit to go out with the truck?

AK: No.

MN: So when you came back, what did they tell you?

AK: They told me that I wasn't supposed to go, and I think I stayed in jail about three days or so, I don't remember. They let me out.

MN: Did you have visitors? Did people visit you at the jail?

AK: Yeah. No, they can't come in, but there was a little door. They'd all come and harass me, the ones that knew that I was in there. [Laughs]

MN: Now, your sister Mary Kageyama, she did a lot of singing in camp. Did you ever go see her perform?

AK: Yeah.

MN: Where did you, where did you go and see her perform at?

AK: Everybody was invited to go, at the, and they had one auditorium. Later on they built a nice big one, but at the beginning it was a small -- it was small, wasn't it? Yeah, later they built a nice big one.

MN: I guess that's the interpretive center today.

<End Segment 10> - Copyright © 2012 Densho. All Rights Reserved.