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MN: And then you know, you mentioned other cases where your firm helped make it possible for AJAs who had been in Japan during the war to regain their passports?

KM: Citizenship case, yeah.

MN: How many of them were there?

KM: As far as we know, there was an estimated over six thousand Niseis who were not stranded but who wanted to get back their passports. Not everybody did come back, there were a lot of friends who would just prefer to stay back in Japan, but those who wanted to come back were automatically denied their passport by the ruling of the State Department, and which the federal courts overruled and said you have to turn back. You have to give them, if asked, they were entitled to get it back because the Ninth Circuit ruled that service in the Japanese army was not voluntary. That by circumstances and whatever, those Niseis who were in Japan were forced to serve in the military of Japan. Not because they volunteered, but it was involuntary servitude in the military. And that voting in the first election after the war was not a voluntary thing, again, because at that time, the restrictions were if you did not vote, I think you were not entitled to get rations, or food rations or whatnot, something like that. Tied in with some very strict... which was, again, issued by General MacArthur. And so during this period of time, the voting was tied in with the ability to survive. If you didn't go out and vote, you weren't entitled to rations and whatnot. And so the two big items of serving in the military and voting, were ruled involuntarily. As a result, their stay in Japan was not a voluntary choice.

MN: So in the case of your sisters, they did not serve in the Japanese military, but did they later vote and then were barred from receiving their passports?

KM: No. Under the ruling of the Ninth Circuit, all the AJAs had to do was to just go to the American consulate and ask for their passports, and they were entitled to get their passport back again. They were all entitled to get the right to return back. And so, supposedly, over six thousand AJAs were able to do that. Until then, they were not able to come back.

MN: And what year was this?

KM: Early 1960s, early 1960s. That was a big case.

MN: How did the general public react to the situation where AJAs were not being allowed to come back?

KM: It had headlines in the newspaper, these cases. And as far as I know, in Hawaii there wasn't... we all agreed with the ruling at that time. Basically these people were entitled to come back. And not too many... well, I wouldn't say that, I really don't know the numbers of those who served in the Japanese army, who chose to come back again. But like just recently, Miyo-san who passed away, he served in the Japanese army, he served in the Japanese army and he came back after the war. And I think he's one of those who were beneficiaries of this ruling that the State Department had to reissue. So not too many of the people who served in the Japanese army publicized the fact that they served in the Japanese army. It was something that there was nothing to declare or nothing to boast about.

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