<Begin Segment 27>

RP: In the 1980s there was an effort launched by Japanese Americans and other people to press the government for an apology and a reparations payment for the camp experience.

KN: I don't think so.

Off Camera: Yeah, you did. Yes you did. You got the check. Yes, you got a check. That's right. That did happen, Mom. You got a check.

KN: Oh, I don't remember. They remember more than I do.

Off Camera: I think it was twenty-thousand dollars, right?

RP: How do you forget a twenty-thousand dollar check?

KN: Yeah, that's a mystery. [Laughs]

Off Camera: It did happen. She remembers what happened in the '40s. She doesn't remember the '80s.

RP: That's a little too far back.

Off Camera: You got to stay with the '40s.

RP: Okay. Well, did, do you, do you remember getting an apology?

KN: No. Did we? [Looks off camera]

Off Camera: You got a letter, yeah.

RP: A letter from the president.

Off Camera: Wasn't it Reagan's letter?

RP: Saying that...

Off Camera: I think it was, the check was signed by George Bush. But the apology was Ronald Reagan.

KN: Oh Reagan, I don't know remember.

RP: Right. And the President said that the United States had made a grave mistake in removing Japanese Americans and putting them in, what you refer to as concentration camps.

KN: Yeah. That happened you know, huh?

RP: It did. It happened to you.

KN: It did happen, yeah.

RP: So, how did you, how would you feel about that, getting an apology?

Is that...

KN: I was glad to get the money. But I thought, finally, they realized what they did. So I was happy to hear that.

RP: Yeah, you lost a sister in Jerome and...

KN: I didn't even know where Jerome was until we went there. And good heavens, what is this? And camp was right in the middle of the forest. They chopped the trees down and built a camp there.

RP: It was a pretty humid place too.

KN: Yeah. And then, in the camp, everybody had to raise the food and they, the ground was so good, lettuce and cabbage, all those vegetables were beautiful. The Japanese were good farmers anyway. So they grew everything that we needed in camp. We didn't have to buy any vegetables. They grew in the, in the camp, in the back.

RP: Kimiko, did you, did you ever share your camp experience, your story, with your sons? Did you tell them about what had happened to you?

KN: Yeah. They know bits and pieces. Not all of it maybe but...

RP: And have you returned to Jerome?

KN: No, I never...

RP: On a reunion or...

KN: No. I wonder what does it look like, huh? Is it still there?

RP: Well, it's, yeah, it's not, not much of the camp's left. But there are some remnants there.

KN: Oh really.

RP: Mostly, mostly under farmland.

KN: Oh really?

RP: Yeah.

KN: That was just out of nowhere seems like. Just like a jungle. They had some trees in the back, about it.

RP: So when you look at your life and look back on your life, how does the camp experience fit into your life?

KN: I had a good time in camp. We went to dances, movies, there was nothing else. And I worked in the office. So I was a stenographer in camp. I took dictation of all this hakujin bosses and they were terrible. They didn't know how to dictate a letter so I have to fix it.

RP: I think that's... do you have any other questions? Is there anything we've missed?

Off Camera: I don't think so. I don't think so.

RP: Is there any other stories that I forgot to ask you about?

KN: No. You covered it all.

RP: I did?

KN: I think you did.

RP: Okay.

KN: It's amazing how you figured out what to write down.

RP: Well, thank you so much.

KN: Oh, thank you, thank you for talking to me.

RP: It's been a great interview. And on behalf of Kirk and myself and the National Park Service, we really appreciate your sharing your special stories.

KN: Oh, you're welcome. You're welcome.

<End Segment 27> - Copyright &copy; 2011 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.