Densho Digital Repository
Densho Visual History Collection
Title: Yoshiko Kanazawa Interview
Narrator: Yoshiko Kanazawa
Interviewer: Diana Emiko Tsuchida
Location: San Jose, California
Date: January 3, 2019
Densho ID: ddr-jamsj-2-15-3

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DT: Right. So when Executive Order 9066 came out, what were some of the things you remember that started to happen?

YK: You know, my mother had a brother who was in the Japanese army, and she had some pictures of him and they went through their albums, finding his pictures, and then throwing them in the fire. And my uncle had already been taken from his family. He lived in San Pedro and had a three-story house, and the FBI claimed that he was signaling the Japanese ships from his perch on the third floor. So he had already been taken away, so we knew that something would happen. My mother started sewing a duffle bag for each of us and then she sewed heavy bathrobes for us, for each of the kids. Because there had been rumors that we were going to a very cold country. Then there were rumors that -- or a very cold part of the U.S. Then there were rumors that we were going to a dry desert area, so my father bought goggles for us. So they were getting prepared. He was also making arrangements of what we would do with our belongings. He was a gardener in Pasadena and he had served those people well for many, many years. So they, the ones who had large homes said: "You can keep your things in our house, we have extra room," or, "We have a basement were you could keep your things." So we didn't have to sell off our things like a lot of people did. We were living in a rented house and our, the owner lived right behind us. And he had told my dad we could leave things with him too. So my dad arranged to leave his truck there, because we would use that until the very end. And then the mattresses that we slept on, he said we could keep those in his house also. So we didn't have to sell off things, that was a good thing.

DT: Yeah. Was your neighborhood diverse? Was it mostly...

YK: It was diverse, yeah.

DT: Okay. Did you experience some kind of discrimination or anything that started happening right after, up until you left? Or...

YK: I did not. But maybe because all my friends were younger, too, so I didn't. But my brothers and sisters and my parents may have felt something yes.

DT: And you mentioned that you hadn't finished first grade?

YK: Yes, that's right. I was in the first grade, and I think I've told you that my teacher wrote me a letter.

DT: Oh, yeah. Do you want to read some from it?

YK: Okay. And it's very torn up, but my mother must have kept it for me. "My dear Yoshiko. Your letters have thrilled the children. We all are so glad to hear from you." And then she goes on to say, "We have a new boy, John, and a different one named Bruce." And that, "Mary Frances has the measles," just telling me about the children in the class. And then we had started to make a little village. And I had made the church out of blocks and wood. And she said there's a bell tower, there is a bell in the church now. And then she says, "Thank you for your letters and tell your mother and father I thank them for their kind letter." So I just thought it was very nice that she would take the time to write me a letter. So she must have felt kindly towards me to do that.

DT: Right. Were you the only Japanese American student, or one of a few?

YK: One of a few, yes.

DT: Yeah, well, that was... you were lucky in a sense that everyone seemed supportive around you to help you.

YK: Yes, that's right. And the people, my father's clients, had all been so kind to us, right.

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