<Begin Segment 3>

JA: Did Pearl Harbor change the way other Americans related to you and your family?

HT: The people that, whom I knew, is that what your question is?

JA: Or other people that you would encounter.

HT: Did they change?

JA: Right, because you were of Japanese blood and Japan had attacked their country, did that affect how anybody related to you?

HT: Related to me? No, no, no. Like I said before, people would come down to our restaurant, they never changed. No, their attitude never changed.

JA: Were there people who didn't know you who didn't treat you well?

HT: Well, when we were, when I was riding in the streetcar, now that you say that, there were a couple of times some derogatory remarks being made by looking at me in the eye. And nothing threatening, no, but vulgar words were used, and they referred to me as a "Jap." Other than that, oh, one time I was coming back from the library. Now, if this had happened -- now, this happened on Main and Fifth because Fifth Street is where the library was, and I was walking home, I was walking home with some book under, in my arm. Now, whether this guy here was drunk or what, that I don't know. But this guy here came from behind, whether he fell on me, I don't know, but he grabbed me. That's the only experience that I had. I just took it for granted that he was drunk because that was wino country there, Fifth and Main. Other than that...

JA: Tell me about the streetcar. I think you had mentioned an experience where someone, where you had to give up your seat or something?

HT: Oh, yeah, yeah. It isn't that I had to, I just walked away.

JA: Tell me what happened, what caused that?

HT: Well, what the heck happened now? You know, these things that happened so long ago, I've got to think about what...

JA: Think all you want.

HT: What the heck was that? I believe that at that time, it came to me, and I just blurted it out, yeah. What the heck happened? You know, these things happened, it just comes and goes.

JA: Alisa remembers what you told her. See if this helps you. Did he say something about "why should a Jap have a seat"?

HT: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

JA: Tell me about that.

HT: Yeah, yeah, yeah. He blurted out -- I was sitting down, yes, yes, and he made some remark about "a Jap is sitting down," and he doesn't have a seat. Something like that, and so there again, I said, well, what's the use of talking with a guy like this, so I just up and got off. Yeah, that did happen. Well, yeah, yeah, other than that...

JA: Not a lot, huh?

<End Segment 3> - Copyright © 2002 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.