Densho Digital Archive
Manzanar National Historic Site Collection
Title: Taira Fukushima Interview
Narrator: Taira Fukushima
Interviewer: Kirk Peterson
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
Date: August 9, 2011
Densho ID: denshovh-ftaira-01-0011

<Begin Segment 11>

KP: Speaking of watching out, the Manzanar, the so-called "Manzanar Riot," do you remember that night?

TF: Oh, well, see, in terms of politics, when you're just a youngster, you don't really know. But then I did find out that on the night that it occurred, we were watching a movie in Block 22 mess hall. And then all of a sudden, the lights go on, and there's a few guys rushing over, and to my right, they started beating a guy up, and then they run away, you know. "What the heck's going on?" And then by the time I get home, I hear there's a big to-do down at the gate, that's where the jail is also. And there was only one guy that was habitually in jail, so he used to have the walk of the jail. They only have to lock him up at night. But you can't keep him there all the time, there's no place to go, and you can get out of the jail, but you still have to get out of the building, then you still have to get out of the gates and everything. So everybody's safe. But I saw all of that, and I just went to bed. But I do know that there was a lot of commotion because the army came to Block 5 and picked up a family. The family was, you know Judge Aiso? His family was in Block 5. And I know the army came and moved them out.

KP: How do you spell the last name?

TF: A-I-S-O. He was a judge. He became a judge here. In fact, I think he was one of the big wheels at the language school. But anyway, his family was there, and they moved... the army knows who they were going to be protecting, and it's in Block 5, they were the important ones. And the next thing I know, they had a couple guys shot. And I kind of didn't think too much of it, because I expected that it was December 7th that it occurred, as far as I remember. And things were coming to a head then, because they used to have a camouflage net place. And the government pulled a lot of fancy stuff, but when you started, it took you forever to finish one. So they said, "Finish two, you could go home," because it seemed like it takes a half a day to make one, because it's a big thing. And then pretty soon you get fast enough, then they said, they add more and they add more, and pretty soon it seemed like it was just a game. And I guess some of the people there, the guys who so-called stir up the riots, didn't like that. And I guess some of these people were considered to be, quote, insiders, because people who would sort the mail could see who gets certain government mail. I think these are the kinds of things that I don't know, I think about, but somebody's been checking up, because they knew who they were going after and this kind of thing. So to me, personally, I guess I'm too young and too stupid to really know.

<End Segment 11> - Copyright © 2011 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.