Densho Digital Archive
Raechel Donahue and Garrett Lindemann Collection
Title: Nobu Shimokochi Interview
Narrator: Nobu Shimokochi
Interviewer: Raechel Donahue
Location:
Date: 2010
Densho ID: denshovh-snobu_2-01-0002

<Begin Segment 2>

RD: So you took off to Santa Anita and how old were you when you got on that bus?

NS: I was thirteen years old when the evacuation came. There was a posting that was placed on the utility pole that said, "All people of Japanese ancestry," and the one that applied to us delineated the borderline of our district. And it was dated May 3, 1942, and the date of the gathering at this site, staging site, was May 9th. And we had sold our store and we had moved to Japanese Union Church on San Pedro Street, because we wanted to be incarcerated with our church friends. And so we left from the church, and I think that was the same day as when Kaz was evacuated.

RD: And you didn't know Kaz before.

NS: No.

RD: So we talked about everything that happened when you were in Santa Anita except for the one thing. You said you heard something at the end of the riot, that there was a different reason, when we were talking earlier?

NS: Oh. I wanted to mention the fact that because of the riot, there was an investigation, and they wanted to dig into all the facts about why there was a riot. And during that investigation they found that the whites were stealing the meat and butter and sugar, all the ration items, and stuffing it in the trunks of their car and selling it on the black market. They also found that we were supposed to be getting a small allowance for essentials. And one of the nicest things that happened was the elimination of, every Monday, shakedown inspections. We no longer had those inspections after that riot.

RD: Okay, so then you were in, how long were you in Santa Anita?

NS: Four months, starting from May 9th to early September.

<End Segment 2> - Copyright © 2010 Raechel Donahue and Garrett Lindemann and Densho. All Rights Reserved.