<Begin Segment 19>

LP: [Addressing KL] Do you have any questions?

KL: A few quick ones. When you took the questionnaire in 1943, where did you take it? Was it in a block manager's office or were you able to leave with it and return with it, or can you talk about that day?

EY: I don't remember how we got it, but I know that I went home and talked it over with my dad, and that's why I said, "I'm gonna say 'yes-yes' because I want to go to school outside." If I say "yes-no" or "no-no" or something, I may not be able to leave here. So by saying "yes-yes," okay, that's what I'm going to do. I remember telling my dad that that's what I was going to do, and I did do it. Then that's when my father said, "No, you can't go. If you say 'yes-yes' and then you get to go and I say 'no,' then the family will be split." And he didn't want that. So I said, "I'm still going to go 'yes-yes,' and if something happens, then that's the way it's going to be," so he said, "No, you can't do that." So he reluctantly also said "yes-yes" and my mom said "yes-yes." And, of course, the boys were too young, so they said "yes-yes." That's how come we had to move, to make room for the other dissenters to come in. However, there are families who didn't answer at all, they were not going to answer, they were going to just stay put, and whatever the government was going to do with them, that was okay with them, but they were not going to move, so they stayed in Tule Lake. So today when people say, "Oh, Tule Lake, that's a bad camp," right off the bat without even considering the fact that there were many of them who just didn't want to move anymore, so they were still okay. But sometimes it hits the wrong button, and then you want to say, "Hey, wait a minute, that wasn't a bad camp. But sometimes you think, "Why waste your breath?" kind of thing. But that's the wrong attitude to take, you need to explain to them why they made it sound like it's a bad camp, it's not a bad camp.

KL: What did your dad plan to answer before this conversation with you?

EY: Well, I think he was going to go "no-no," and I wanted to move, too. I think he started moving, although it was just one tip, but he knew that if he was sent to another camp, something might happen. Although we never really thoroughly discussed it, but the fact that I wanted to go to college and go outside, but like I say, I think my mom had a thing in there, so I never did get to go.

KL: Do you remember any broader tensions outside of your family but within Tule Lake, public discussions or pressure to...

EY: Yeah, some of my friends were saying, "Gee, I don't know how to answer that," 'cause my folks, this and that. So there was a lot of turmoil and a lot of dissensions within the family. I think especially the boys who were of the age to be inducted, I think they had a harder time. It was really a bad questionnaire, but it happened.

KL: Do you remember any specific stories from your classmates who were wrestling with that, and the repercussions? Are there any, sort of, like case studies of either draft eligible young men, or just young women who...

EY: At that time? At that time, no. But different stories are coming out now. But at that time, no, don't know. We tend to be, "don't talk about it," "do it yourself," kind of thing, attitude from our parents. "We don't want the neighbors to know," this kind of attitude, the thinking, as part of our culture. And so maybe that had a lot to do with it, too. So like Jimi says when he went to the front gate, that was when he saw some of the guys. But they never talked to one another, but in Heart Mountain they had this group where they all got together and discussed it this way and that way. But at Tule Lake, that didn't happen. Each guy had their own reason for doing what they did. And then when they got to the gate, that's when they first saw each other, "Oh, you feel the same way," kind of thing. So that was a little different. And then the fact that his group got exonerated as against all the other groups. And it's the same question that was asked of everyone, and yet, Tule Lake people were exonerated and all the others, the guys had to serve time. So it depended on a judge, they had already made up their mind that these guys said "no-no," so they're draft evaders, that kind of a thing.

LP: Was there speculation as to why the government was... I mean, there's like the actual words and the questions, but was there speculation as to why the government was asking people if they would serve or to renounce loyalty to Japan and the emperor? Do you recall any sort of conspiracy theory or any kind of hypothesis as to what...

EY: I think there was, at one time I think there were some people who were thinking that it was a conspiracy, and then also to find out who was thinking that way and who was thinking the other way and all that, kind of thing. I think there was some of that, but I was not ever involved in that, so I have no idea. Because a lot of the guys that appeared at the gate, they were totally unaware of each other's thinking until they got there. So I'm not surprised that it would be the same in other camps except Heart Mountain, because they had that group.

LP: When you say "got to the gate," I'm not sure what that means. Is there a line?

EY: No, gate being that when they got to Tule Lake, the entrance gate to the camp, that's when they first saw each other. Up until then, each person who went, or showed up because they had to show up, did not discuss with each other how they answered that question. So some of them were surprised to see each other. In fact, there was one friend that I know personally who was one of them, but he never, never spoke about it to his family, to no one. And the only time I think they found out was after he passed on, something in his belongings, the kids were going through, and that's where they found out, "Gee, Dad was 'no-no.'" But never once talked about it. Of course, Jim knew who he was, but he never said anything to anyone. It was none of his business. So each guy had their own reason for not talking about it, nor telling who was there. They never revealed, and I think that's out of respect for each other. But of the whole group, Jimi's the only one that come out and said it, that he was one of them.

LP: Do you think that your parents, when they got this questionnaire, they might not have talked about things in detail to some extent, or it was kind of, you're having this sort of elephant in the room kind of conversation with your dad about why you should or shouldn't be answering a certain way because of your mom. But do you think, putting that aside, there was any concern over eventually, like, the 1945 renunciations, did that just seem, like, so far out of the picture that that wasn't even part of the equation?

EY: You know, I can't even recall even discussing about it. So I really don't know what their true feeling was, except the fact that, about me staying with the family. So I really couldn't answer that, but it'd be interesting to find out from different ones how their parents discussed this, or did they. I think a majority of the families rarely discussed it. As far as I know, most of my friends, I don't think they even talked about it. Maybe I'm wrong, I don't know. I'm assuming, but my own family didn't.

<End Segment 19> - Copyright © 2015 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.