Densho Digital Archive
Manzanar National Historic Site Collection
Title: Maria Sato Interview
Narrator: Maria Sato
Interviewer: Kristen Luetkemeier
Location: Portland, Oregon
Date: July 11, 2012
Densho ID: denshovh-smaria-01-0017

<Begin Segment 17>

Off camera: When you were a little kid living in Trujillo, did the Japanese kids go to the same schools as the local kids?

MS: Yeah.

Off camera: So there were no problems with race and you didn't have separate schools?

MS: Not that I know, no. I went to Catholic school, and there's a public school, so they're both... some would go to the Catholic school and some just the public school. I didn't see any race there, though, so I don't know. I don't think they have any.

KL: It sounds like it had to have been a shock for you to have to leave your country because it sounds like your neighborhood and your friends were good.

MS: Yeah, it was a shock. It was kind of scary, too, because we didn't know what's going to happen. And then you have to leave a lot of things, you lost everything over there. You cannot take everything with you. So that was another one that was kind of bad. I don't know what they did with it, probably throw it away. We're not the only one, everybody's the same.

Off camera: How hard was it for you to adjust to living in Japan if you hadn't spoken predominately Spanish?

MS: That's hard because you can't have any communication.

Off camera: Did they put you in different classes?

MS: Nope, same class. Same class because that was Catholic school, Joey. I don't know there, the schools, what they did, but I don't think they had any problems. Then, of course, now they might have some problems, everything changed over there, too. So maybe the Indians might have some problems over there now, I have no idea.

KL: Are there things that I didn't ask you that you wanted to talk about? Are there things I left out that you wanted to share.

MS: Oh, I don't know. There's so many question I forgot. [Laughs]

KL: I have so many or you have so many?

MS: You have so many questions. I don't know what... see, I'm forgetting, too, you know. Comes with age.

Off camera: Was it ever an option to go back to South America after being in Crystal City?

MS: I don't think I want to go back again, because I have new friends over here now.

Off camera: But then when you first got out of camp, did your folks talk about going back to South America instead of going to Japan?

MS: Oh, no, no. They probably already had it. They lost everything and it's hard, because you cannot have anything. They lost everything. You have to start from the beginning, and they get older, it was hard. So no, they didn't mention anything. I guess that's part of the life. So hopefully, hurry up and finish fighting, I think it's going to be awfully hard, bring peace.

KL: That's another reason I think it's important to hear from people like you who have experiences with war and who saw what it was like to go to a country that a war had been fought in.

MS: Right, yeah, different country, yeah.

KL: A lot of us don't know.

MS: That's right. I don't know why in the first place they don't put that back in the history book when they teach it.

KL: What's that, put what back?

MS: This concentration camp deal.

Off camera: They're starting to put it in now.

MS: Really? I hope so.

Off camera: But not to any depth.

MS: Yeah, because the kids have to learn yet.

Off camera: And just the part they don't want to talk about.

MS: Yeah, but look how many years. Don't you think it's time to put in the book already? I don't know how they're going to do that, that would be a good idea.

Off camera: I think things like this, what they're doing, the oral histories, and you're speaking up, this will be part of the history.

KL: Do you think that people's willingness to speak or interest, have you seen changes in how the United States or in how you think about what happened to you and your family?

MS: I have no idea. I don't know if they change or what. They're still fighting and everything now, the government. I don't think they're thinking about a concentration camp right now, the way it's going, the government.

KL: Have you changed your thinking?

MS: About what?

KL: Did you think differently in the '50s than you did in the 1970s than you do now?

MS: Well, I don't know. I hope it's going the good way. [Laughs] Someday. I have no idea.

KL: Well, thank you so much for participating and for sharing.

MS: I hope it helped you.

KL: It's a whole world that's not around anymore, to get to hear about your childhood and your neighborhood in Trujillo and what it was like to have to leave your home and go to a place like Crystal City. You've had an amazing journey and I very much appreciate our sharing it.

MS: Thank you. Lot of troubles I forgot.

KL: Thank you.

MS: You're welcome.

<End Segment 17> - Copyright © 2012 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.