<Begin Segment 12>

JS: So Nori, would you also deliver to the drink stores in Chinatown?

NM: You know, well, that thing, she's making the soda water coming down, drops in the syrup, then the water goes, shoom, she takes that out and put it in the case. And by the time I stack it up, I have to come back. It's just about ready, boom, get that to... she got to keep working all the time. So I had to do it, under it fast. You can't stall. [Laughs] Yeah. But it was a lot of hard work. I worked hard over six years. I didn't miss a day. So I think they liked me at that time. But when the war came on, we couldn't believe it. Oh, god, last day, 1941, we can't go out, more than 5 miles out from our house. And you can't drive more than 5 miles away, you can't go noplace. So Kimuras, they just sold Fresno. I started helping at the church, so I was at the church. And you know what? All the ministers got taken. They got pulled out just the way they were. What they had on, they didn't go back to their room. They picked them. Then all of a sudden, everybody said, "Say, Sensei's not around." "Oh, they're taken away." Sometime the Sasaki family, "Hey, you're father's gone, where is he?" "Tanaka, oh yeah, he's gone, too." We didn't know what happened. The FBI just carried them off right without saying nothing. They just pulled 'em out, "Gee, who's gonna be next?" We were worried. "I hope my dad don't get pulled out," you know, this and that. Lucky we didn't get pulled out, yeah. But sometimes they got pulled out, boy, I felt sorry for them. They don't know where he went, nobody, they don't say nothing.

TI: Yeah, I want to ask you more about that, but let's make sure we get all the prewar stuff.

JS: Actually, we can go into that.

TI: Because I was gonna start from December 7th. Did you want to --

JS: No, let's do that, 'cause he's on a roll.

NM: They pulled them out, and then, "Who's gonna be next?" We were wondering, you know. But they didn't take any more, and then few of the people that had kendo, there's a teacher like that, they got pulled in, too. And then wherever it was had something to do with kendo, they got pulled in. But they don't know where they went for so long. All of a sudden, I know there was Tanaka, a good friend of mine, their husband got pulled in. They don't know where he is. And then one time, we're in the courthouse part, you know, then I was looking at the jail. The jail was small, you know, small building, two-story building, and that was the jail. Today, it's a big nine-story jail. But those days, it was just right on the courthouse part there. Look in there, Tanaka, I know him. "Tanaka-san." He was in there. So I told the wife, "I saw your husband. He's in the jail," and sure enough, he was in there. Yeah, jail. Those days, that was a small jail. Fresno, small jail. Today, it's a big building, jail, nine stories high and all. But at that time, boy, everybody worried. You know, the wife, they don't know where their... then they, finally, they got notice. Then they were sent to San Francisco, certain place you can go see them there. So one time I had to take one of the minister's wife like that. Kawaisou da yo, boy, it's sure sad. I took 'em there...

JS: To San Francisco?

NM: And then found out where to go. First time they met, minister, oh, that was sad in those days. They didn't, they were mean, that time. And you know, the whole Fresno people, in fact, all over, they didn't talk to Japanese anymore. And then they start saying something about, "You guys are gonna move out," this and that. It happened. I thought never, it'll never happen. But it did happen. Yeah. After that January, December 7th, first of January --

TI: So can we, let's start with December 7th. I want to ask, on that day, where were you when December 7, 1941? Tell me about that day.

NM: That day, there's a basketball season, it was December. And we were at a place called, coffee shop, Araki. They had Araki coffee shop, ice cream parlor, this and that. We used to hang out there. Then somebody said, "Nori, come here." It was Sunday morning, and we were getting ready. It was about twelve o'clock. Said, "Nori, come here." They were listening to the radio. Said, "Japan is bombing Pearl Harbor." Where in the hell is Pearl Harbor? We didn't know, you know. They were gonna go play basketball in Sanger. See, we have a gymnasium reserved there for about four or five games, all day, see. So we used to get together there. Then we go there, "Hey, you guys hear anything about the war?" "No, nothing." There must be a story or something. See, those days, nobody was listening to radio or anything in the morning. Radio was something real nice. But they said, okay, after they told us that we were gonna be restricted no more than five miles, you can't go out more than five miles, you got to stay in your house, eight o'clock to six a.m. eight p.m. to six. If you're out, you'll be in jail. If you're white, it could be your fault. Nobody would stick up for the Nihonjin at that time. So it was so bad. Then it was dangerous. There was some people in Sacramento being shot, San Francisco, somebody said, they knock on the door, they won't open up, they get shot at. That was happening. Fresno, one incident, I found out some Japanese family got shot through the house. And that's the only one I know in Fresno, yeah. I know the man, it's Nakagawa. They hardly talk about it. So I don't want to say too much about that. But it did happen in Fresno.

<End Segment 12> - Copyright © 2010 Densho and Preserving California's Japantowns. All Rights Reserved.