Densho Digital Archive - Sumiko Yamauchi Interview (denshovh-ysumiko

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WP: And so when did the rest of your family, when did you leave?

SY: We, soon after I graduated high school that June, we left. But I just graduated high school, so the five of us left for New Jersey.

WP: And where exactly did you go?

SY: Seabrook Farms.

WP: And why did you choose to go there?

SY: Because Seabrook Farm would pay our way from Manzanar all the way to New Jersey, and they would have housing for us, which was horrible. We wanted to come back to camp.

WP: So what were your expectations?

SY: Well, when they say a bungalow, in those days, bungalow is not a bad word. If somebody said it looked like a shack, then you know it was really bad, but it was worse than a shack when we got there. The doors wouldn't close, we had to pick the door up and fit it in. The house was leaning, and you had to push against the wall in order to get the door in. The windows were all, the windows were, the glasses were broken, and it was just really...

WP: What were your feelings about leaving camp?

SY: Happy, adventurous. I'm gonna go get to see another part of the United States. Yeah, I was looking forward to it. My mother and father, my mother was looking forward to it because she said we have a place to sleep, we're gonna have food, and she was looking forward to it. Then we got there.

WP: Did you have, or did you or your parents have any concerns about leaving, hesitations?

SY: No, because there were a group of us going. We weren't the only ones going. It was a trainload full.

WP: Yeah, so what was your trip like to New Jersey?

SY: Well, the war was still on, and there were a lot of things that you couldn't get. And I remember when it came to the train, in order to get food, you had certain minutes to run into the snack bar to buy something. Because if you bought it on the train, it cost you twice as much, and things like that. But you know, you make do with what you have to do.

WP: How long did it take you, do you remember?

SY: I think it took us about five days. There were no airplanes then, I mean, there was no flight to New Jersey, it was all train. And we left New Jersey, I mean, we left camp and went to Los Angeles, caught a train, and went to Chicago and transferred into another train and got onto a train going to Philadelphia. And then from Philadelphia, Seabrook had a bus and took us to south Jersey.

WP: What was the experience like to be outside of Manzanar after being there for so long?

SY: Confusing, because I had never been on a... I had been on a bus, but I'd never been on a train, it's the first time for train. And then you see all these strange people coming in and out, in and out. And those days, train did not go through scenic route. Train went through the back alley, the dirty side of the city. That's where the warehouses were, the slums area, and all this stuff. So you didn't have a pretty scenic view. But nowadays, you know, you can take a train ride and have a beautiful vacation. But they didn't have it those says. And then the seat was all wood, there was no padding. And five days on a train with no padding.

WP: And you were traveling with other Japanese Americans?

SY: Well, yeah. Well, there were other people on the train. Because in those days, you didn't, you weren't assigned seats, first come, first serve.