<Begin Segment 19>

MA: So how were you treated as a Japanese American in Japan by both the Japanese people and then by the other military?

CY: Well, see, I had quite a few relatives in Tokyo, my aunts and uncles and cousins. And so they greeted me royally, they did. They, they had no, they knew that I had nothing to do with the war, so they weren't going to blame me for any of that. So they were very happy to see me. And we visited them quite often, and they came to visit us at Washington Heights, and I give them lunch. And then I'd give them a little something to take home, which I wasn't supposed to. And so, you know, because if you start feeding the Japanese people with the American food, there'd be an unbalance of food, you know. They send enough food to serve the American army and the dependents, they didn't send enough food to send... the food that they sent for the Japanese people were separate bunch. And then one day, the whole country was on the verge of starvation. And so overnight, General MacArthur released all of the cornmeal and flour from the commissaries to give to the Japanese people, and they were told how to mix it with hot water and make cornmeal. And so the Japanese people don't like cornmeal or corn. Did you know about that? Mrs. Ino was living in Japan at that time, and so Mr. Ino said, "Don't ever give my wife corn or cornmeal. She just can't stand eating it anymore."

MA: So can you talk about the American soldiers that you saw and what they were like and how they treated the Japanese people?

CY: They were very courteous. They were very well-dressed, too. I saw the comparison between the Russian soldiers, the English soldiers, especially Russian and English soldiers from Australia. They were not, their uniforms were nothing compared to the United States. And then the MPs, the Military Police, they had white gloves, and they would blow a whistle, they were very majestic almost.

MA: And you said earlier they treated the Japanese people very well?

CY: Very well. They meant business, too. When they say to stop, you stop, everybody stops.

MA: Did people think you were Japanese from Japan? Were you mistaken for a Japanese citizen?

CY: Yes. Well, just like a soldier mistook Joyce for a Japanese national, that's why he gave her a Coca-cola, thinking that, you know, she didn't have a taste of Coca-cola. So I was mistaken for a Japanese madam. And, but it was interesting, sometimes, I was in Kochi one time waiting for the traffic lights to change. There was two Japanese ladies waiting at the same corner. They looked at my clothes and I had a pink outfit on, and you know, with my gray hair, and so they knew I wasn't that young. And they said, I could hear them speaking, said, "You know, I would really like to try that pink-colored dress on, but I wouldn't dare." The Japanese women, when they're married, they don't wear pink anymore. So she says, "I wouldn't dare to wear anything like that anymore." But she says, "You know, actually, it looks nice on an older person." And I heard all of that, and I understood. And I almost looked back to let them know that, "I'm understanding what you're saying," but I thought, "Well, just let them talk." [Laughs] But that was, I remember. And so they knew I was Japanese, but they knew that I was from the United States.

MA: And can you describe the Washington Heights area where you lived and what that looked like?

CY: If I lived, stayed in Washington Heights, you would never know that I was in a foreign country. It was just like a, we had, you know, you see these American housing projects, there were apartments of... let's see. I think they were duplexes, we were two put together, and we had one entrance here and another entrance. But they were just separate units. The streets were just like American streets, and we had a commissary, a church and a school, and an officers' club, and we had a dispensary where we, if you were sick you could go in the clinic. We didn't have to go all the way into Tokyo General Hospital. But if you had to be hospitalized, they treated you at the Forty-ninth General Hospital in Tsukiji, Japan.

MA: And was Washington Heights where all of the military families lived?

CY: All the military.

MA: Everyone associated with the occupation kind of lived...

CY: At one time. They just had Washington Heights, and then after Washington -- Washington Heights was where the officers' families lived. And then Grant Heights, they set it up for not only officers but enlisted men, because they had sergeants and things, they had families over here.

MA: And you had your second daughter in Japan, is that right?

CY: I had her at the Forty-ninth General Hospital.

MA: And what's her name?

CY: Doris.

MA: Doris.

CY: Doris... she goes by the name Yano, but her husband's name is Lundquist.

MA: And when was she born?

CY: She was born in 1949, November 13th.

MA: And how long did you end up staying in Japan?

CY: I went there in 1947, and I came -- I was there for about three and a half years, almost four. I came back February of 1950.

<End Segment 19> - Copyright ©2008 Densho and the Topaz Museum. All Rights Reserved.