Densho Digital Archive - Sumiko Yamauchi Interview (denshovh-ysumiko

<Begin Segment 27>

WP: And so looking back, how did your experiences at Manzanar, how did your experiences at Manzanar, how do you think that shaped the rest of your life?

SY: It didn't make me ugly; I have no bad feelings. I don't... I just, it was a life in, something that happened in my life, and life is not a bowl of cherries. You've got ups and downs, and I look at it that way. It doesn't upset me, it doesn't make me angry. I have no animosity. I think of it as I had fun, I do.

WP: What was it like to go back to Manzanar?

SY: Brought me good memories; it brought me good memories. I had fun there, even when I got bawled out for climbing the mountain. [Laughs]

WP: Sounds like a fun adventure.

SY: Yes, even though I got bawled out, still, it was fun. I had fun going up there anyway, you know. Until I got home and I got bawled out. [Laughs]

WP: Have you talked about, it sounds like you've talked about your experiences at Manzanar with your children and grandchildren?

SY: It's amazing that they were interested and they were teaching it in school. And I went to my grandson, my very first grandson, and I went to my second grandson and my granddaughter when they were in elementary school to talk about Manzanar there. And I was surprised that they were teaching such... because I don't think I even talked to him about Manzanar until the kids got involved. And we started going fishing and what else? Going to Lake Tahoe for skiing. I went because, not skiing, but I went because I was looking after my granddaughter because she was still small, and the rest of them went skiing. So I went up there, and then we stopped by Manzanar. And I always remember Independence, isn't there a place where they sell beef jerky?

WP: There is... not in Independence, or there could have been at some point in time.

SY: We used to always stop. "Oh, there it is, stop, stop, stop."

WP: Yeah, I think south of Independence and south of Lone Pine, I think there's a beef jerky stand that sells beef jerky. And I've never stopped, I've always wanted to.

SY: I remember that. "Oh, look, look, look, here it is." [Laughs]

WP: Yeah, I'll have to stop on our way back.

SY: Tell 'em that I remembered 'em.

WP: So did your grandchildren or children find out about Manzanar without knowing that you had been there, or how did that come to light?

SY: I have no idea. I don't know whether... I do know that they studied it at school. I can't answer that, which is which. All I know is they did study it at school.

KL: Do you remember what their response was they learned that you had been involved?

SY: How did I respond?

KL: How did your children respond when they learned that --

SY: Oh, they thought it was wonderful that I knew about it, I guess. Because they were the one that eagerly got me going over there. Either that, or my son and daughter-in-law. But they're the one that, I mean, the schoolteacher didn't know I was in there. I don't know if the kids did or not.

WP: And so if somebody were to listen to this interview a hundred years from now, what would you want them to remember about your life?

SY: Well, that something like this will never happen to them. But it's all in how you accept it when it's happening, whether it could be a tragedy or not. I mean, it's not a fun thing that we had to go into camp, but it's not, it's how you accept it, is what I feel, that's why I enjoyed it. I feel, that's why I enjoyed it. I think my father didn't enjoy it because he made it so, and I made myself enjoy it. And I think my mother, even to this day, if she was alive, she said, "Yeah, I'll go back to camp." She says, "That was the easiest thing I ever did in my life. I didn't have to care about anything."