<Begin Segment 5>

MA: Well, let's talk about Pearl Harbor and that day. What do you remember of that day?

IO: It was a Sunday, I got home, I don't know where it was, but I heard the radio and all that, I couldn't believe it. But just total shock, that's all I can remember. Then after that, we kind of stayed home, you know. Other than that, I don't remember too much about it.

MA: And you were in Emeryville.

IO: Huh?

MA: You were in Emeryville at that point? You were in Oakland?

IO: Yes, I was in east, I mean, west Oakland. That had, we were living next door to a African American. Of course, there were, a lot of west Oakland was African American, lot of 'em. And so there was no bad feelings or anything there. I don't recall a few times when maybe somebody made some remarks, but overall, I don't recall too many incidents.

MA: You mean after Pearl Harbor?

IO: Yeah.

MA: I'm curious about the west, you said you lived in west Oakland?

IO: West Oakland, yeah.

MA: West Oakland. And that was a primarily African American neighborhood?

IO: Lot of it was, yeah.

MA: Were there other Niseis that lived in that neighborhood as well?

IO: Not immediate area, but I think they did live in west Oakland.

MA: And the relationships between the African Americans and Niseis?

IO: I don't, I didn't do too much either way, you know. So I kind of kept to myself, more or less, those days.

MA: So how did your father and mother react to Pearl Harbor?

IO: I don't remember.

MA: Was your father targeted by the FBI after?

IO: Oh, well, let's see. Yeah, when we were in Oakland, the FBI came over to our place. But the thing was, they knew more about me than I knew myself. [Laughs] I couldn't believe it. But they just talked to us a little bit and then left, that's it.

MA: What types of questions did they ask you?

IO: That I can't even remember. I don't know. But I know that they didn't stay too long, and they didn't take my father or anything, and I didn't go anywhere. I just stayed home, that's all.

<End Segment 5> - Copyright ©2009 Densho and the Twin Cities JACL. All Rights Reserved.