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-01-0037

<Begin Segment 37>

KL: Tape five of an interview with Aki Okuno, on January 31, 2013. And we just wanted to back up in time a little bit. You said that you did visit the Liberty Bell in Independence Hall, or some historic sites in Philadelphia. Tell us about that.

AO: Yes. I don't recall anything special, but it was really, I mean, this is something you hear or else studied about in school. And then to go and actually see it, it does something to you.

KL: Who did you go with?

AO: I can't remember who particularly, or whether it was just a group or just a friend. It was not with the Barrys. So I may have just gone with a friend. Because I know I did some things with somebody I went... she wanted to go to New York once, and so I went with her.

KL: Oh, you did?

AO: And we stood there arguing because she said, "We came out from there, so we should go back down." And I said, "No, we came out from there, so we should go down there to go home, go back."

KL: Is that the subway?

AO: Yes. And so finally she gave in to me, I think I convinced her, and we did make it back to the train station that way.

KL: What did you do in New York?

AO: We just walked along some streets, that's all. We had no money to spend, and it was just...

KL: What did you see?

AO: We may have gone to the top of...

KL: The Empire State Building or something?

AO: Yeah, and walked around that balcony area. It's not the top floor.

KL: Yeah, that's a big place, too, in a different way than Chicago.

AO: Yes, yes. Well, Chicago, I don't remember anything about it, because it was so cold, and we took taxis.

KL: Did you like that feeling of energy in New York, or did it seem frenetic to you?

AO: No, it was kind of frightening because I wasn't sure if we're gonna get lost or not.

KL: When you went to the Liberty Bell, I've never been, but I hear now it's very busy, it's just crowds of people kind of pushing through. What was it like when you went?

AO: No, it wasn't real crowded, but there were a lot of people there. Like you would expect a famous spot, that there would always be a lot of tourists and people looking. And even if you're not a tourist, I think if you lived in Philadelphia, you would want to every once in a while touch base. It's like touching base, you know? They're familiar, and something like that, that means a lot.

KL: You said it does something to you. How did it feel to see it, to you?

AO: It's just impressive, and this is the real thing.

KL: What does it mean, what did it mean to you?

AO: I guess the whole concept of liberty... it's strange, not thinking back on that, here we'd been deprived of our liberty. But it's still liberty, it's a mainstay of this country. And so I guess that's what it is. It's like the foundation, being able to feel the foundation.

KL: Were there any other memorable places you went or trips in that time on the East Coast?

AO: On the New Jersey shore. Because we always went to the beach here in Watsonville, down toward Monterey. And the sand is very fine. I get to New Jersey, and you don't even want to take off your shoes because of the rocks. It was disappointing.

KL: Yeah, the ocean was not what you thought there, huh?

AO: No, no. So I don't know if, how I'd feel if I saw it now. But then, because I was just so looking forward to seeing the ocean and the sand. And this isn't sand. [Laughs]

<End Segment 37> - Copyright © 2013 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.