<Begin Segment 31>

KL: You mentioned one other question, you mentioned the Maryknoll reunion on the phone. Would you elaborate about that?

YI: That was kind of fun, because Chiharu, our friend...

KM: That was the first time we talked about it as a group.

YI: The three of us... I see her a lot now, because my sister was the same age and close friends, but then we had children at the same time, she and I, this friend.

KM: In Mar Vista together, same high school.

YI: Anyway, so it was fun to go back. But then we didn't have a lot in common.

KM: Yeah, I didn't remember her camp.

YI: Yeah, because she was in another block far away.

KM: Block 36.

YI: But we knew them before the war. But to have her live so far away, camp-wise, and then to see her again at Maryknoll, I mean, we see her at least once or twice a month, Joe and I. But to see her in that setting, being asked questions... but Kazy remembers the most, and I don't know if she can even remember that far back. But even living over prewar, she has some good memories.

KL: Yasuko, I don't know if you remember, but we actually met at Manzanar about, a little more than a year ago, when you were there...

YI: Did you have a uniform on?

KL: ...with a group of cousins?

YI: Okay, okay. Yeah, well, that's Joe's cousins.

KL: Oh. Oh, yeah. So would you tell that story, just because I... it's a fine memory.

YI: Well, you should tell it, meeting Joy at Manzanar. And (Kristen) was the one in the uniform at the desk, and then we told her what happened.

KL: We did talk briefly, I'd forgotten.

YI: Well, anyway, short story...

KL: You've got the microphone, so just tell what you remember of it.

YI: Okay. We happened to be there, and we're walking around, and... did you spot her? I don't know.

Joe: We were trying to find the ledger.

YI: Oh, that's right. On the wall, with the names on it. And lo and behold, his cousin doesn't recognize him, but he recognized her, and then we started talking. And there was another cousin there, Junior, and we hadn't seen them in I don't know how many years. And we just shared our lunch, we had packed a lunch to go on up to Reno, but we were going to stop at Manzanar, that was going to be our lunch place. So we just shared lunch with them, and it just happened that...was she in Manzanar? I don't know whether they were or not.

KL: So you actually encountered each other in the visitor center in front of the list of names.

YI: Yeah. Didn't plan it, it just was a shock that they were there. I think Joy was in Manzanar. Anyway, so that was kind of a...

KL: You showed me a picture of you and some of your family members, too. Would you tell that part of the story for the tape?

YI: With the one that's...

KL: Block 8.

YI: ...that's right there in the entry? Yeah, well, my brother Frank and I are sitting in the front row. And every time I come, I look for that picture. I don't know, someday they will change it, I'm sure. And Kazy's there, she in the...

KM: Second or third row.

YI: ...second or third row.

KM: Me and Terry.

YI: And Terry. And then my mom is right at the cutoff, right on the side, but my dad isn't there and my brother Ich, is he there?

KM: He was there. He's on the edge, too.

YI: We didn't see him. But anyway, so, yeah, that's when I talked to you? Well, see, that's how I talked to Richard, was I was telling him, "That's me in that picture," and he goes, "Oh, you were here?" And then I told him, and then he told me about the depression, that was where he knew my address, when I said 8-9-1. And then he pointed it out and said that's where, "You'll be able to tell exactly where your apartment was." So that was kind of nice to know that they had done it, and then subsequent to that, he sent me a copy of the report, so that was nice.

KL: Yeah, those kind of connections are very much a part, I think, of both visitors' and employees' experiences at Manzanar. So I kind of wanted to have that be part of our conversation.

YI: Yeah, that was nice.

KM: Coincidences.

<End Segment 31> - Copyright © 2013 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.