<Begin Segment 10>

KL: How did you prepare to leave your home? What was that like?

MN: We had to either sell or throw away or... nobody wants to buy because they can't take it anyway. We can just take suitcase. My husband carried two suitcases and I had to carry, my daughter was only five months old, so I couldn't take so much. So most of the things we just leave as it is or sell it. Just a few months before war started, we bought a new car, but we had to get rid of it. We didn't own our own house, so we had to sell everything, but some people had their own house already, like my friend, best friend, they owned their own house, so they rented the house. But they, but a couple years before they made, added on to the house, so they put everything into the other room and locked it and left it there. But we didn't have any place to put it, so we sold everything. My sister-in-law had a double garage. In those days, garage, double garage has two separate doors, so we left everything, and when we came back everything was gone. Everything was stolen. Somebody broke into the garage and stole everything.

KL: What did you store in the garage? Do you remember what you lost?

MN: Mainly the, not our own, so we had our own wedding present, like bedspread and blanket, toaster and waffle iron, everything. We couldn't take it, so we didn't, we packed it in a box and put 'em in my sister-in-law's garage. Not only our stuff, but my sister-in-law rented the house, so they put their own, their stuff in the one garage. One garage is, the people who rented was using.

KL: And I forgot to ask you, where were your parents?

MN: My parents? Was in Japan.

KL: So they had moved back to Japan like they had planned.

MN: They moved back to Japan in, let's see 1930s, so they were in Japan.

KL: And your sisters?

MN: My older sister lived in Seattle, so they went to Tule Lake. They didn't go to Manzanar. But after the, all the camp was closed, my sister came, instead of going back to Seattle they came down here. Then they lived with me a little while, until they bought a house. They rented a house.

KL: Where was the middle sister? Did she stay in Japan?

MN: No, my middle sister died way before war started. She was only twenty years old. She died over childbirth.

KL: Okay.

MN: She was a nice sister, person, but died so young.

KL: So what was that, what were those weeks like, when you were all in the house in Glendale together? What do you remember?

MN: We just, couldn't go out. We had to get, sold the car already. So we just stayed home and I guess talk and play cards, and nothing much to do.

KL: What was your mood? What did your husband think and what did you think, that you were going to have to leave? How did that feel?

MN: Sad. But American government said to do this, we have to obey. We don't have much to say because the government told us to do.

KL: What happened to the store?

MN: We sold it. Chinese people bought it.

KL: Who were they?

MN: I don't know.

KL: They weren't friends or anything.

MN: No, no, they just, I guess we put an ad in the paper or real estate or something. So they sold it.

KL: How did your neighbors react to your leaving, your friends?

MN: They, they didn't have a difference. They were so good. They feel bad to have to go because we have to sell everything. So they feel bad for us, but I don't know, I don't see any difference than before.

KL: Was it difficult to leave, to say goodbye?

MN: Oh yes. They feel sorry for us.

KL: What were your conversations like? Do you remember any talks you had with people or anything?

MN: No, I don't remember the conversation.

<End Segment 10> - Copyright © 2014 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.