<Begin Segment 9>

KL: So you had the attack, and then two days later, your father's arrest. And then you said that your treatment from your classmates and from the community changed some?

MO: Yes, it did.

KL: How did it change?

MO: Well, some of those friends started to call us "Japs" and things like that, which they never did before. And so I just stayed quiet and didn't stir up trouble. Kept my distance.

KL: What grade were you in?

MO: I was about seventh grade at the time. There was another Japanese girl in my class at that time. And the funny thing is, when we went to Crystal City, she was there in Crystal City. I guess her father was arrested also. I don't know why, but...

KL: Do you remember talking to her at the time?

MO: No. I didn't talk to girls then. [Laughs]

KL: That's right, I forgot you were in seventh grade, yeah. That would be a switch, too, for you, just to get quiet.

MO: Yeah, just kept my distance. So I don't recall too much of that, from that moment 'til we evacuated, we just went about our normal routine. I guess we kept tending the farm.

KL: Did the teachers or the principal or anybody say anything to you or the other students?

MO: No. I don't recall anything like that. I can't even recall who my teacher was at the time, but I do remember the principal. Once in a while, when my sister and I were walking to school, he used to drive, I guess, around the same route, and he'd pick us up once in a while and give us a ride to school.

KL: Did he still do that after the war started?

MO: Yeah, yeah. He was a pretty nice guy, gentleman. I can't recall his name, Beady? I think his name was Beady. I'm not positive, but...

KL: It's Kakimi, your friend, is Mr. Kakimi?

MO: Kakimi?

KL: Was he arrested?

MO: No, he was not. He just stayed with us all that time.

KL: How did you learn that you would have to leave? Who told you?

MO: Well, I came home from school one day and then said we have to leave, going for, evacuate.

KL: One of your brothers told you?

MO: Yeah. I said, "Were are we going?" We don't know. We were going to Merced, there's an assembly center there. So we were shipped over there.

KL: What do you recall of packing?

MO: I don't remember myself packing anything, but they did, my mother and brother did all that. We couldn't take too many things.

KL: Was there anything you wanted to make sure to take?

MO: No. But I didn't have anything valuable. The only thing I really recall, or regret, is my dad had this beautiful set of swords that he got from Japan, and he used to treasure that. He used to polish it, you know, things like that. I remember it had a white hilt, and he couldn't take it to camp, because no contraband was allowed. So I guess one day he went out and buried it somewhere, thinking that he would come back.

KL: Your father buried it before he was taken?

MO: Yeah. But we were never able to return, so I guess it's just rusted away somewhere. It was such a beautiful, it was a piece of art.

KL: How did he acquire it? It was just kind of a souvenir?

MO: No, I think he ordered it through someone, and they shipped it to him. I remember him sitting on the bed polishing it. He was so proud of it.

KL: Do you think your parents were surprised that Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, do you think they kind of kept up with news of Japan?

MO: Well, I think they followed some of the news, but I don't think they figured they would attack. You know, they used to keep track of, at the time, China and Japan were fighting, and they used to keep track of things like that. And we used to collect tinfoil before the war, and used to, you know, cigarettes used to have those tinfoil things to put the cigarettes in, and then we used to separate the tinfoil from the paper, and they used to make these balls and, I guess, ship it to Japan, because they needed the tinfoil for the war effort. I mean, being Japanese, I guess we thought nothing, what's the big deal? So we used to send things like that. But I guess the FBI don't think too highly of that.

Off camera: Since the war in China started in the early 1930s, do you know if your father or Wing ever talked about that? Or was there any tension between them because of what was going on?

MO: No, no. Not between them, never.

Off camera: And just one other quick question, you said that you guys went to Merced, do you know why you didn't go to Sacramento or a closer center?

MO: No. I guess Merced was the closest.

Off camera: Because they had them in Sacramento and Stockton and Turlock. I'm just curious.

MO: I don't know, they just sent us to Merced, we just went there. We were there for about half a year or so.

<End Segment 9> - Copyright © 2013 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.