Densho Digital Archive
Manzanar National Historic Site Collection
Title: Akiko Okuno Interview
Narrator: Akiko Okuno
Interviewers: Kristen Luetkemeier, Alisa Lynch
Location: Saratoga, California
Date: January 31, 2013
Densho ID: denshovh-oakiko-01-0032

<Begin Segment 32>

KL: When you said you heard that universities were opening up, where did you hear that? Was it from your peers or from the administration?

AO: Peers. And kids were applying for it. I've been out of school for over a year, and so then we were told that the last train taking kids out of Poston was leaving on December 5th. And this was like the first of December, and my mother didn't know if she could let me go. And my younger sister, she was an eight year old, says, "Well, if it wasn't meant for her to go, the opportunity would not have come up." So on the strength of that, my mother said yes. And with five days, threw together enough that I could leave camp. And I was starting on an adventure that I didn't know what would...

KL: Had you been accepted at Temple?

AO: And I had been accepted, yes.

KL: What was the application process like?

AO: I really don't know exactly how, what the process was and how, but I decided, well, I might as well apply to Temple then, and I did, and it was okay, and then we were told that... I thought, well, the next semester was not until the following something, late in January.

KL: Did you ever work with the administration or with American Friends Service Committee or any group?

AO: It could have been the American Friends, because it was through them mostly that a lot of this was happening. And when I got to Philadelphia, it was...

KL: But your contact was just with Temple, it was between you and the University?

AO: Yeah.

KL: I'm sorry, I keep interrupting you.

AO: You know, isn't that strange that I don't have the particulars? All I know is, yes, I could go to Philadelphia, so I'm going.

KL: How did you get there?

AO: By train. From Parker we caught the train.

KL: Did any family go with you?

AO: No.

KL: How was your goodbye with your mom? I'm sorry, this is a hard question, but do you remember your goodbye to your family?

AO: You know, I was so excited about leaving, that I don't think there were tears. I know my mother had a lot of trepidation, but the husband of a friend of hers was also going to be on that same train. He was going to a job in New Jersey, so she asked him to kind of keep an eye out. And thank goodness for that, because when we reached Chicago, we missed our connection and we had to stay overnight in Chicago. And had I been alone, I wouldn't have known what to do, and I probably would have just stayed in the train station all night. Whereas he had an acquaintance that he called, and the friend came and got us and took us to the Y. And the next morning, we got back to the train station and got the connection to Philadelphia.

KL: What was your impression of Chicago coming from Poston?

AO: Cold, just cold. I had, I don't know, a wool suit and a heavy coat over that and a scarf, mittens and everything, and I was still freezing. It was cold and windy, and oh, that just cuts right through you.

KL: Chicago's a big city.

AO: Yeah, it is.

KL: It was busy in the '40s.

AO: Yeah, and I would not have known. Because I didn't even know how they used... I mean, I could use a telephone there in camp because it was like 2-1-1 or something like that. But I got there and Mayfair something, do you spell out Mayfair, do you... anyway.

KL: So it was one night in a Y...

AO: And then on to Philadelphia. And got to Philadelphia, and somebody from the hostel met us and took us there.

KL: What was the hostel?

AO: The hostel was run by the Friends.

KL: Where was it?

AO: I don't remember.

KL: Was it close to Temple?

AO: No, it wasn't that close to Temple. What area was it? Because Temple is in the north, northern part of the city. And it seems to me it was like a little bit west and south of where Temple is.

KL: Who was it who met you? What was that person like?

AO: I don't remember. I was so tired, and I remember being welcomed and showing where my bed was, and crawling in bed and going to sleep.

KL: And then falling into it, huh?

AO: Yeah. [Laughs]

<End Segment 32> - Copyright © 2013 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.