<Begin Segment 5>

MN: Now, did you go straight to Poston or did you go to an assembly center first?

TY: Directly to Poston.

MN: What do you remember of the train ride? What was the train ride like?

TY: Hot. Hot with the shades down, 'cause they didn't want you to know where you were going. What that was gonna do, I don't know. Was I going to run off the train later and find my way back to L.A.? I don't think so. But that's whose ever logic it was. We were on the train with the blinds down, and I don't think we saw anything until we got to camp, when they let the blinds up.

MN: How many days was this?

TY: I think a day and half. Boy, it felt like a forever process, 'cause it was hot and we were going into Arizona. I think we were getting there in September, so it was hotter than blazes. So I can't really tell you.

MN: Did you get, like, motion sickness on the train?

TY: No, I was just excited to be on the train. So hard to say, I don't know what anybody else felt.

MN: How about, do you remember eating anything on the train?

TY: Yeah. I don't know where we got 'em from, but we had sandwiches. I don't think I was ever thrilled about sandwiches, but hey, you got what you got.

MN: Was this your first time eating a sandwich?

TY: No, my mom made, too, but ours was Japanese American sandwiches. [Laughs]

MN: When you say "Japanese American sandwich," what do you mean? Like a bologna in there? Shoyu?

TY: Well, they had kind of stuff, but if you went to someplace where they made bologna sandwiches, you know, it was just slapped on with mayonnaise and maybe lettuce, and on a white piece of bread. And that was it, that was your sandwich. Now, Mom made it with tender loving care, so there were a lot of other things in it besides lettuce and tomatoes to try to make the bologna tastier, maybe even fry it.

MN: With shoyu?

TY: Possibly.

MN: Do you remember any African American porters on the train?

TY: No, there were no porters, just the military guards to "keep us safe."

MN: How did you feel about these soldiers on the train? What was your feeling towards them? Were they friendly towards you?

TY: Oh, they weren't antagonistic or anything, they just there. They were like part of the upholstery.

MN: So this train took like a day and a half you said, where did you sleep?

TY: In the chair we were sitting in. They were upholstered, so it wasn't like I was, had to suffer or anything.

MN: Do you remember what the toilets were like?

TY: No, I don't know if I used them or not. All I know from what I remember is that back then, the toilets were exposed to the tracks. So if you sat on one of those things, you could see the track below. That's what I remember.

MN: So basically they were just like a hole and you just...

TY: Uh-huh.

MN: Once you got into Arizona and you neared Poston, where did the train stop?

TY: It stopped in Poston itself, at the train station, and then the bus took us from there to the camp.

MN: What was your first impression of the camp?

TY: Well, we got there at night, so it was hard for me to see anything. And all we were told to do was to... well, not for me, but for the kids that could, to get out and go and get hay and put it in these mattress bags, 'cause that was going to be your sleeping thing. That's all I remember.

MN: So you said you got there at nighttime, was it still warm?

TY: Oh, yeah. No air conditioning.

<End Segment 5> - Copyright © 2012 Densho. All Rights Reserved.