Densho Digital Archive - Grace Kubota Ybarra Interview (denshovh-ygrace-01-0007)

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FA: Going back to the camp, you were a few years old and got these letters from your father. Do you recall, as a child, receiving the letters from your father?

[Interruption]

GY: Yes. They were one of the real highlights of any, any mail that we got, because he would always have these cartoons and pictures drawn. Some of the pictures were of my brother as he perceived my brother to be as he was growing up, there were others that were cartoon pictures. And I thought my dad was a great artist. He probably would qualify for the Walt Disney studios. And then there was one picture that was drawn of him that I later found out was drawn by Frank Emi. He and Frank Emi were cell-mates, and they must have had an inordinate amount of time to do this, because the pictures were always in color, and it was done with a great deal of care.

FA: When you received them, how did you feel?

GY: I felt a lot closer to him. I didn't read the letters, because I couldn't read. But I always looked forward to the cartoons and the pictures. Because your memory, as a child, of your father, at least of him, sometimes tends to fade. And that was the one highlight -- to know that he was still somewhere, and that he was still communicating with us. So it was real, it was a real treat to get something from him.

FA: And can you describe the kinds of cartoons he would draw?

GY: Well, there was a cartoon that he sent for my brother's birthday, that was done in real vibrant colors of a swashbuckling cartoon character. And I -- that's absolutely my absolute favorite picture. And then there are others of cartoon animals, much like the Looney Tunes or the Walt Disney types. And whether he copied them or traced them or whatever, I don't know. But it was always in pencil, always in color, and it was always written, drawn, next to a letter that he had written to my mother. And because I couldn't read, the pictures were, were something that I really looked forward to.

FA: And can you read that letter that you just read to me just now? That begins "too busy in prison"?

[Interruption]

GY: My father was absolutely monolingual for his entire life. And for him to speak English was difficult. To write English was an impossibility. And, but during the prison years, he does, he wrote to my mother and to me in English. And that was because the documents were censored, somebody had to read them. I understand Frank Emi was the person who taught him his English, and either Father wasn't a very good student or Frank wasn't a very good teacher, because here are one of the letters: "Dear Gloria and Makiko, I am very sorry to Makiko. Last time I was send to picture for Hidemaru." That's my brother, Gordon. "I know Maki want, too. But I was very busy to draw picture." It's occurred to me since then how anybody could be "very busy" in prison, but he perceived himself to be real busy.

FA: Years, years after prison, what would happen when your mother served oatmeal?

GY: During the years after, when we were out -- as you know, we used to talk about the evacuation, and we talked about the Fair Play Committee, and we talked about my dad's prison life with a great deal of regularity. But one of the things that would absolutely spark a conversation about his prison life would be when Mother would occasionally serve oatmeal. And he would say, "You know," and we would mimic him because we knew exactly what he would say. He would say, "That's what we would serve," that he would be served in prison. Oatmeal. And he hated oatmeal. And it would go in, he would go into this discussion of prison life, and then he'd always end with his prison number which was 61428. I mean, it was ingrained in his memory. But the oatmeal for breakfast in the morning would always just get him going on that part of his life.