<Begin Segment 8>

TI: So going back to Berkeley, on campus, so in 1942, when you returned to campus, what was the mood like on campus?

YM: Well, I think among the Japanese, the Niseis, I think we were still quite uncertain as to how long we were gonna be able to continue our studies. We weren't mistreated by the other students or anyone else, as far as that goes. You know, typical young kids, we were probably optimistic and went about our studies. Anyway...

TI: And then you mentioned how Executive Order 9066, President Roosevelt signed that. And so eventually you know that you're gonna be removed from the Bay Area to someplace else. What did you think about that?

YM: Well, there's not much you could do about it. We were told to be ready to move to Tanforan, and we went out and bought certain things to take with us. We just gathered at one place one day and they picked us up by bus and took us to Tanforan.

TI: Now, how did you figure this all out? 'Cause here you're like a freshman at Berkeley?

YM: No, I was a junior.

TI: A junior, that's right, you went to San Diego State. So you're a junior, you're away from the family, and how did you figure out what to buy and what to bring, all those things?

YM: Well, I don't know. I remember buying an electric razor, that's about it. I don't know what else I bought. I suppose I bought some clothes, you know, suitcase, things like that.

TI: And during this time when you're at Berkeley, as you prepare to leave, did you do anything in terms of getting placed at another college?

YM: We were writing different colleges, I recall, to see if we could get acceptance. And it was surprising to me that the government had copies of all those letters that we wrote. And later, when we were able to access those files through the Freedom of Information Act, we got a whole bunch of stuff. And included in that were letters that I'd written.

TI: Oh, that's interesting. So while you were at Berkeley writing these letters to sort of transfer, they ended up in your file.

YM: Uh-huh.

TI: Government file.

YM: Yeah, I don't know how they got a hold of 'em.

TI: And so what's your sense? How do you think the government got all those?

YM: I have no idea. Probably the colleges turned them in or something like that. There were a number of colleges that were not accepting Japanese at that time. I think the University of Minnesota was one, for the reason that they had Navy V-12 programs and Army specialized training programs going on, and they didn't want to, or maybe the government didn't allow them to take on Japanese students.

TI: Going back to your file, were all the letters there?

YM: Well, there were a few of them. I don't know whether they were all there, but I noticed a few of them there.

TI: Yeah, I'm just wondering if it happened more at the source or more at... I guess you were mailing them, so...

YM: Yeah, I'm mailing them, so it has to be from...

TI: The universities are making copies and sending them.

YM: I think so.

TI: That's interesting.

<End Segment 8> - Copyright ©2009 Densho and the Twin Cities JACL. All Rights Reserved.