Densho Digital Archive - Michiko Wada Interview (denshovh-wmichiko-01-0016)

<Begin Segment 16>

LP: We have about five or so minutes left. So I was wondering, could you talk a little bit about leaving Tule Lake, what you remember, and then skip forward and maybe talk a little bit about redress?

MW: Oh, well, you know, when we got out of Tule. (...) We came back to Central Station right there in L.A. And then they took us, a friend came over and they said, "You have to stay at a hostel," what's a hostel? Well, like I told you, it's in a church. But because they had so many people in the hall, they just put a blanket or sheets or whatever to divide it, and then a cot was there. And I took... my sister-in-law was there, and I was trying to be responsible for her and two kids. And I said, "This is no place for you to be staying." But mom's with friends, and my brother was, I think he was in South Dakota still at that time. I said, "Will you stay here until my brother comes back?" But I said, "My sister and I have to go look for work, we can't stay here." And so that's when we went into domestic, and that was the first thing we had done (after returning).

LP: Do you remember the name of the church or the location of the church?

MW: I think it was... what church was that? Was it in Gardena? Could have been the Gardena Buddhist Church. I've forgotten where it's located now. Well, you know, they did have all churches everywhere... later on I had gotten a girlfriend to room with me because it was too expensive to be by yourself. Anyway, she was from Oxnard, and when we went to see her parents, we slept on the stage in the church. They had cots all up there because the whole family was there. And so they didn't have a house either, so that's where everybody went that didn't have a place to go (...). Sure, they took my mother, but they couldn't take my dad, they didn't have that much room. And everybody had a rough time at that, and that's why you find so many young people, old people doing gardening. It took less money to buy tools and it was something you just knew what to do in the yard, so it's the same type of thing. And it was fast money that way, to earn something. And so that's when my brother and my mother and they bought a home, a small home. But I couldn't stay there because they had only two bedrooms and they had six people already. And so that's when I decided I needed to go out and look for something. (...) And then what did you ask me?

LP: At what point did your brother and your father get reunited with your family?

MW: Oh, they came back, I'd say... a short time after. I was still in domestic at that time. And they must have all ganged up and slept in a room, because all the friends, everybody tried to take anybody in they could, because they knew what they were going through as much as they went through. So everybody helped out, even the friends that you knew for a short period of time, if there was any kind of room, they would let you stay there. Because they knew you wouldn't stay forever.

LP: How much time passed between you leaving Tule Lake and you seeing your brother and your father again?

MW: Oh, I'd say a year. I think the longest would be a year. Because everybody just had to work. It's amazing how everybody kind of helped each other. (...) You've got to help friends help people, it's something you must do if you can, in any small form. And help is, it doesn't have to be in a big form, it just doesn't have to be. You know, lending your hand to someone who's almost drowning is a hand. Better than your whole body getting in there if you're going to drown.