Densho Digital Archive - Shiuko Sakai Interview (denshovh-sshiuko-01-0019)

<Begin Segment 19>

KL: How did you, were you aware that there was a redress movement happening?

SS: Oh, yes. Because my girlfriend worked for Mike Masaoka. And Mike's wife's brother was Norman Mineta, he was in congress. But after I retired from the government, I went, I was going to get a part-time job. I had a friend who was working for a trade association for distilled spirits, she was going to quit. She was working part time, and she was going to quit, so she said, "Why don't you come in for an interview?" So I went for an interview for a lawyer. And this lawyer happened to be a naval retiree. So I went for an interview and they said, "You're hired." So I said okay. So I was hired. Well, he knew where I was working, before, in the Secretary of the Army's office. So I got, they told me I'm on full time, I said, "Well, I just wanted a part-time job." So I said, "Okay, I can do that." [Laughs] So I worked full time. And I worked there for ten years for the lawyers.

KL: Wow.

SS: Then I retired.

KL: Did you go, you said you went back to Japan in the '80s also.

SS: I went there a couple of times, yes, '80s and '90s.

KL: What did your friend say who was in Masaoka's office about the hearings and about the redress movement?

SS: Who?

KL: You said you had a friend who worked for Mike Masaoka during the redress movement and the hearings. What did she tell you about them, or did she talk about...

SS: No, she didn't say anything. We just got whatever news through the papers.

KL: What was your thinking about...

SS: Reparations?

KL: About reparations.

SS: Initially I thought we shouldn't be asking for money. You know, they finally convinced us that this is one way in the States of acknowledging something that was wrong, monetary, isn't that the right word? So I said okay, if that's the case, I'll go with it.

KL: What did you think when you received yours, what was your feeling when you received your letter?

SS: It was a letter of apology. I was glad, and I gave half of it to JACL because they were, they were instrumental in getting that. Maybe I should have given them the whole thing.

KL: When did your mother pass on? When did she... she wasn't still alive then?

SS: Huh?

KL: She was not still living then, to get the letter or...

SS: No, she didn't get her reparation then. (...)

KL: That's okay. Do you have a sense of what she would have thought about the letter of apology, what her reaction --

SS: She would have been happy.

KL: Did she ever speak with you about Minidoka or being forced to leave your home afterwards?

SS: No.

KL: Did she work again when she was in...

SS: No. She took care of her grandchildren.

KL: Did she stay in New York?

SS: Uh-huh. After camp she went to New York and she stayed there and she died there.

KL: And did your sister stay, too, are those the children that your mother cared for?

SS: They what?

KL: Did your sister remain in New York also?

SS: Uh-huh.

[Interruption]

KL: You told us that you were hired by this lawyer who worked for the liquor (...) business, is that right?

SS: It's a trade association, liquor... it's a trade association, Distilled Spirits Council.

KL: Did you remain full time for that whole ten years?

SS: I did, I did.

KL: Until 1995?

SS: Until I quit. And I was still in touch with (...) the lawyer, the assistant, what do you call it, she's now the (head) lawyer. Because the lawyer who interviewed me died of cancer a couple years after. So his assistant became the lawyer, head lawyer. I'm still in touch with her.

KL: Was there any highlight of that work?

SS: No, not particularly. People ask me, "Did you get liquor?" No, we don't. [Laughs] It was just a trade association, the way the liquor companies are, members, they sent it to the office, but we don't get any.