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CU: I think it's only fair. There were a lot of people, like I said, we had to sell belongings at, I would say at less than l/16th on the dollar, you know. There was a lot of things that were lost, there were people who sold their property, say a home at that time built at a cost of say, 3,200 dollars, that same home right now is worth in excess of two hundred fifty, three hundred thousand dollars. Now, those homes were sold very cheaply, I would say maybe 1/10th on the dollar. So that combined with the indignity, also being incarcerated in those concentration camps, when we were given job opportunities, what, twenty-five dollars a ticket, a bus ticket or train ticket. And a job opportunity which didn't really even pay what the other people were getting paid. I think we should get something for it. As for the specific amount, I don't know. I understand they finally settled on a sum of $20,000 for the remaining survivors. I think, personally, that what the government will do is wait until most of the people are gone. We're all in that age bracket, you know, the Issei people, most of them are gone. I would say, what, eighty percent. The surviving children, which I would be in, we're getting to the age now where our life is not going to go very much longer. I myself, I figure maybe another fifteen, twenty years, I'm lucky. So supposing the government waits that long, that means there's that much less people to pay, right? If the person, I don't know how it's going to turn out, but say for example like my children who were not in the camps, would they be the recipient of the money if I die? So it's in the interest of the government to wait as long as they can, but I think we're entitled to something.

Q: Would you say that the Issei suffered the most from the camps?

CU: Did I what?

Q: Would you agree that the Issei were the ones who really suffered through the camps in terms of rebuilding their lives after?

CU: No, I think it was the Nisei that suffered the most. The Isseis had already lived out a fairly full life. They went through an awful lot of abuse because of the language barrier and being a so-called foreigner. But the Nisei was taken into the camp right at the age where, you know, you would've really begun to experience life per se. Of course, after we were sent out to these jobs, we ran into all kinds of interesting experience which may or may not have helped, but one thing is certain, that whether you be Nisei or Sansei, you still have the... well, how should I word it? Japanese spirit where you will strive to get ahead. So even with, starting out with nothing, really, what, twenty-five dollars and a train ticket a lot of the Niseis have really worked hard, they've become lawyers, they've become doctors, they've started successful businesses. The Sansei have reaped a rich, full life from all this, I think. I think the Sansei are right now starting to become aware of what the Nisei and the Issei went through. My nephew, for example, he was with the JACL and he got a citation here in Oakland and they had written on the citation, "Jap." And I pointed it out to him so he went to work and went to see the mayor and everybody else and they no longer put all that down if you receive a citation.

<End Segment 5> - Copyright © 1983, 2010 Densho and Steven Okazaki. All Rights Reserved.