<Begin Segment 15>

TI: Okay, so let's talk about that. So your father wanted to go back to Japan, and so what the government did was they now put you back on trains, you're in Arkansas, and you're now going to Tule Lake, back to California. And so you're now back to Tule Lake, and before we talk about the other stuff, first, tell me what was it like when you first got to Tule Lake. Can you recall the process to get into the camp? What was that like?

TO: It was really cold, it was in winter, January, I think it was. It was real icy, and a lot of people got off the train and this armed truck picked us up. In the meantime, they slipped and got hurt, I got hurt, too, at the time. And then we were sent to one of those barracks. But we were together at that time, and then I guess it was about three, four months later, they picked up, the Japanese were, in the morning, we would all get up and do exercise outside. And they thought that was something that we were trying to get all the Japanese together and start up a riot or something. So my dad was one of, they thought he was one of the leaders, and able to do things like that, so they picked him up and sent him.

TI: So in the morning, he was one of the men who would wake up early and do the exercises in the morning? Because, probably because of his judo training, he might have helped lead some of the exercises.

TO: So he got whatever, whoever wanted to join would go out to the open field and do these exercise.

TI: Do you ever recall seeing your father do this? Did you go out there, too?

TO: Oh, I did. I went out there.

TI: So describe, like, what did you...

TO: Oh, just a regular... like we have in school, that type. It's nothing different.

TI: So describe how many...

TO: We're running, first, of course, they, take an exercise, and then we would run around the block.

TI: And so about how many of you were doing this?

TO: About forty-five. Forty, forty-five.

TI: Forty to forty-five.

TO: Uh-huh.

TI: And so you had women and men doing this? And age-wise, was it like, youngest, what would be the youngest and the oldest?

TO: Teenagers into the twenties.

TI: And do you remember how early in the morning you had to wake up and do this?

TO: Six o'clock. [Laughs]

TI: And so your younger brother did this also, Isamu?

TO: Yes, uh-huh.

TI: And then what role did your father have? Because he was over twenty, I mean, what did he do? Your father, during, at six o'clock in the morning, what was your father doing?

TO: Well, he was out there, too, doing some exercise.

TI: So would he do it with your group or another group?

TO: No, no, just a group. It's not really... something you have in school, just the regular exercises. Stretch and tone.

TI: And how would they explain to you, or describe to you why it was important to do these exercises in the morning?

TO: Well, they thought that just living in our barracks doing nothing, they thought that that would be a good idea to have exercise.

TI: And do you remember whose idea it was that everyone should exercise? Was this something that was happening when you first got there, or did it happen a little bit later on?

TO: Later on, yes, we decided that people just stuck in their barracks, not doing anything.

<End Segment 15> - Copyright © 2008 Densho. All Rights Reserved.