Densho Digital Archive - Kazuko Miyoshi - Yasuko Miyoshi Iseri Interview (denshovh-mkazuko

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KL: Tell us about the basement.

YI: That was nice.

KM: Nice, it was cool in the summertime. And Mama would iron down there, and it was cool, so comfortable.

YI: And the scorpions.

KL: How tall was the basement?

KM: Probably six foot.

KL: Serious. So an adult could stand?

KM: Japanese adult.

YI: Well, she's short, five-footer.

KM: Because we're short. So he and the neighbor, Mr. Iwamasa, dug it out. And Sylvia wanted to know how they got the dirt out from under the building. And I said Mr. Iwamasa had access to a truck.

YI: He worked for the motor pool

KM: He would borrow one, they would dig it out, the boys and two men, and they would take it out and pile it into the truck. So Sylvia says, "You mean they didn't go down there and stuff their trousers full of dirt, and then when they get out, rub their feet on the..."

KL: It's probably less efficient.

YI: Stalag 17, the movie?

KM: She's seen too many war movies. So that's how they got rid of the dirt.

KL: Did you guys play down there?

KM: Yeah.

KL: What would you do down there?

YI: Eat our shaved ice. [Laughs] But they did have scorpions, and so they were there, they could get in, and I remember that.

KL: We had no pets, but one day a skunk came to visit. And my mother went down and she was ironing, and she could hear this scratching noise. What is that? Listened again, and it turned out that a skunk was scratching around the boxes in there. So she went upstairs, closed the door, and waited for my dad to get home, and told him and Mr. Iwamasa that she'd had a visitor that day. So I don't know how they got that critter out, but they managed to get him out without smelling up the place.

YI: They had a basement also.

KM: They were our neighbors.

YI: Our neighbor, yeah, they had, we were back to back, they dug it out at the same time, so they had half and we had half.

KM: They were Building 9, Apartment 2?

YI: Right behind, yeah. Eight.

KM: They took the skunk out to drop him off somewhere.

KL: Yeah, that's a feat to get it out of there and not have it spray.

KM: Because I don't remember smelling skunk.

YI: I don't remember, or we would have had to leave. I mean, if that thing had sprayed, we would have not been able to stay. I don't think, we were not the only ones that had that, though. Other people, come to find out, had basements or cellars that they had dug out.

KL: Yeah, I've heard of a couple others. Was there a wall between your half of the basement and the Iwamasa's?

YI: Must have been.

KM: Yes, there was.

KL: Was there an open -- I know the foundations are raised, of the barracks. How did you access the basement?

KM: The stairwell on the side of the house.

KL: Was it outside or inside?

KM: It was inside. And then it was just...

YI: The depression is there. Have you seen it?

KL: Yeah, I'm going to think of you now every time I walk out of there.

YI: Yeah. And my youngest brother, who wasn't in camp, knows where we lived.

KL: So was it open when you take this basement, was there a gap? I mean, when you would take the stairs, was there a gap of about a foot, or was there some kind of enclosure? I'm not asking this very clearly.

YI: Yeah, but you're inside, so the steps go right in. There was no foundation on the inside, do you know what I mean?

KL: So there was only, was it open to the air for that eight inches, or whatever?

YI: No, no, because you're inside the building, okay, and the foundation is on the outside, so there's nothing here but the dirt. You go straight down the step, and then they took the dirt out, and so it's open. There's no concrete or anything, because it's all on the outside foundation.

KL: So there was like a lining or something around the foundation of the building? Because I think some people put up trellises or something to block, keep animals from getting down there and stuff.

YI: I'm sure they did.

KL: But I think other people, I mean, the government, I don't believe, did, it was just open.

YI: No.

KL: It was cinder block, cinder block, gap there and...

YI: It was the bare bones.

KL: But there was something blocking.

YI: Must have been, yeah, barriers.

KM: But they did get flooded.

YI: Oh, yeah.

KM: In winter. Rained and rained and rained.

YI: Ruined a lot of...

KM: Came into the basement where my mother had stored things.

YI: They were on a pallet somewhat, but not high enough, when the water's going to collect in the basement. So we did lose a lot of things that she would like to have kept.