<Begin Segment 9>

KL: Do you recall other visitors? Was that pretty common, like when the principal came?

IT: Yeah, and I do remember my aunt coming in later with the baby. She lived in Tacoma, my sister, my aunt.

KL: Mrs. M.?

IT: Matsumoto, yeah. She had a baby and they brought her in... the baby was born in April or May, I can't remember which one it was, but --

KL: Of '42, was when the baby...

IT: I think '42. I think that's the youngest, so she was born in May. I don't think she had a baby at Minidoka. I think this is the one that's... well, no. I'm writing to the one that's... I shouldn't say because I don't really know. Yeah, I think she's about five years younger than I am. But there was another one below her, born in May. Anyway, I do remember she coming in -- but before, the parents knew about the war coming and, I don't think they knew about the evacuation, but they knew something might happen, so they -- or maybe they did -- so they wanted to stay with the whole family. So they moved from Tacoma to Seattle, so we could be moved to the same area.

KL: Ayako and Shigeru moved to Seattle?

IT: Right. Yeah, so they moved to Seattle, and she had a baby and I think it was the young... anyway, I remembered in the spring she came with the baby.

KL: To Seattle.

IT: Yeah. I know about another baby, but I won't say because it's not my family.

KL: Did your aunt or your cousin ever tell you anything about what, how that was to have a baby in those circumstances, with all that uncertainty and...

IT: No, this is, this is my aunt, and she was like a mother to us, so she didn't say much. But I did talk to another one that, well, I won't say it because it's not my family and...

KL: Well, if you, I mean...

IT: She told me how she had to, she had a baby and they had some kind of childhood disease and she had to hide it or something like that, 'cause they were afraid they would take him. In fact, that was my biggest fear, was when we went to Minidoka. My biggest fear was we were gonna be orphaned. I thought, 'cause we didn't know what was gonna happen, and I thought they were gonna take my parents away, split us. So when we were evicted, I wrote, I'm getting ahead, but I wrote a thank you note to my parents for taking care of me. And my mom used to give us ten cents every month, if we got to the mess hall for breakfast, and every day you didn't go she minuses one. My brother never got any money because he figures after ten days he might as well stay out. And my sister and I got ten cents, so I had an old candy bar, 'cause we had a canteen there. I wrapped that up with my note to my parents thanking them, because I was so scared they were gonna take them away. And when they came in to take my mother and then take us to the hospital and we had to go back to pick up something, one of the packers tore it up, ate the candy bar, left the letter just on the floor. I just was heartbroken. So they never knew I had written that, but that's how sensitive I was about being taken away.

KL: Do you know why you had that fear so strongly?

IT: You know, I don't know why. 'Cause both my parents were okay. I mean, my mom was on the sickly side, but I don't know why. I wonder, even now, why I felt that, but then I feel like I turned out much more grateful because they were with us. But when my mom died, then my aunt kind of looked after us, but she would do it in such a nice way, kind of stand back but still she would look after us, that I'm forever grateful to them. And I love her kids, my cousins. I feel very close to them.

KL: Yeah, well, and you mentioned that other lady who had to hide her child because the child was ill. I mean, there's a lot of reasons I can think why you would've had that fear potentially.

IT: Because, well, for one thing, they would separate them, right, if it was contagious or whatever.

KL: Yeah. I know someone that happened to. He was very young.

IT: Yeah, but I was told that story, but I'd rather not have it for others to hear. I mean, as far as her name.

KL: [inaudible] this recording, you don't need to tell me who it is.

<End Segment 9> - Copyright © 2014 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.