Densho Digital Archive - Shoichi Kobara Interview (denshovh-kshoichi-01-0025)

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TI: When you were there... well, let's talk about, so when you were serving in Japan, what was your job? I mean, what were you supposed to be doing for the army?

SK: First I was at general headquarter, Yusen Building, that's right across from the palace. And then I was sent down to the military police, 720 military, American military, which was the same place where the Japanese military police used to be. So we were attached there, we were assigned to each company, different company. And I was with Company B, and all we did was ride with the officer and go around checking all these MPs stations, see if everything's going okay, make the rounds, hotels and cantinas and everything.

TI: So you were like the driver for the officer?

SK: Yeah, and interpreter.

TI: Okay, so you would go around and drive and interpret.

SK: Yeah.

TI: And so was there a whole group of other Niseis who did the same thing?

SK: Yeah, there was quite a few. Three, four to each company.

TI: And what type of things would you see that would be...

SK: Mostly we would go check the MP stations. There's MPs... only one time I went to one USO place, and then couple of MPs were arguing with one black sergeant. Officers never go. He sits in the jeep and, "Go over there and see what's going on." And this sergeant, a great big sergeant, and I asked the other MPs what the problem --

TI: And these were Japanese MPs, or American MPs?

SK: American MPs. And they said, "Well, this sergeant has a razor in his boots, and he's giving us a bad time." So I asked this black guy, sergeant, "How come you're carrying a razor in your combat boots?" "It's none of your goddamn business," and he cussed me out, and he called me a Jap, and, "You're a gook, you're not an American." I just listened to him for a while, and I told them, "Take him to jail," husgow, they called it husgow. When I came back to the jeep, the officer said, "Why in the hell didn't you shoot that guy?" I said, "I can't shoot anybody." "Man, if he insulted me like that, I'd shoot him. And we would have stand behind you." But no, I can't do that. That's the only time in my life in the army that somebody called me a "Jap" and all that kind of stuff. I don't know. Because the colonel of the battalion, MP, he was from the South, and he hated black people. So there was no black MPs there. And sometime we had to go raids at nighttime, to hotels where they know the black marketers are, so that we get a briefing before. And he says anytime they make -- because they're in hotels, so some of them are, usually about midnight we raid the place. He says, "Anybody makes a funny move, shoot 'em first. Don't hesitate, because they'll shoot you and you're be there, dead." So I never had an occasion to shoot anybody. But that colonel, he hated blacks. And there were lot of Japanese ladies, women roaming around in the battalion all over, because lot of GI had girlfriends.

TI: So I'm a little, I guess maybe not... a little confused. So your job was, in some ways, to stop the black market, you had to do these raids.

SK: Yeah.

TI: But yet, you sometimes participated with the black market. I mean, what was, how did the black market work? Was it kind of... some were okay and some weren't, or what was that like?

SK: It was not okay, but it was understood that it was going on. 'Cause I know some Japanese guys got caught. They were in the kitchen, working in the kitchen and stuff, cooks. 'Cause if you get sugar or something, they were priceless. I know some of 'em, they got court-martialed. But everybody knew it was going on. Facts of life then.

TI: And so when you did a, like a big raid, I mean, what would you guys find? Was there like a lot of...

SK: Yeah, sometimes we would find a lot of what they call sugar -- sugar was one of the hottest items.

TI: And just in general, the role of... I was thinking, when you would drive around with the officers and they would use you both as a driver and as interpreter, but if you're going to the U.S. MP stations, why would they need an interpreter? When would your Japanese language skills come in handy?

SK: Well, if it involved Japanese people, or they have documents or something, they would get it and says, "What's this about?" And some of it, unless you know real good Japanese, you couldn't translate it perfect, so I would go to the police station and talk to the Japanese interpreter, and he'll interpret everything.