Densho Digital Archive - Eddie Owada Interview (denshovh-oeddie-01-0011)

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AL: So you lived about a decade, you lived about ten years on Vashon before the war, close to it.

EO: Yes I did, uh-huh.

AL: Which brings me to my next question. What do you remember of December 7, 1941?

EO: I remember, it was Sunday morning, and we were sittin' around in the kitchen, gettin' ready to go out and do somethin' around the farm. There wasn't too much to do now that the harvest was over. December, winter coming on. But one thing we did during the winter was, being that we raised a lot of garden peas, we would string the peas up with twine on these posts that we would set up in the rows of peas. In the wintertime, we would take those twine, tie a knot, tie 'em together, and make balls of twine that we would use in following year. But we were sittin' around home doing things like that and we heard, somehow, that Japan had attacked Pearl Harbor. And we wondered, "What's Pearl Harbor?" And Dad said, "Oh, I think Pearl Harbor is in Hawaii, which is an island halfway between the States and Japan." Then we heard later during the day, from friends and from others, that was kind of rumor like, that Japan had also attacked the Philippine Islands, and all that. And we weren't able to believe that. It was kind of a shock to us.

AL: So had you, had your father been following the news in the months before that about the tensions building, or was it totally out of the blue?

EO: He would hear -- because we were too poor to take the newspaper. -- But we would hear from our friends that, would hear from friends and maybe some of 'em had a radio. And some have little understanding of English language through their kids. So, we knew there was kind of a tension, but their actually attacking Pearl Harbor was, was a shock. It was really, it was a real shock to us.

AL: Do you know if your father had kept in touch with his family in Japan, his son or his parents?

EO: He would occasionally write them letters. I remember his writing letters in Japanese. So, I knew they were corresponding. He would say what was happening, going on with the family, but not much about national or the world affairs.

AL: Did you ever visit Japan as a child?

EO: Never did.

AL: Never did. Did he ever go back to visit before the war?

EO: Oh, I never did and he never did.

AL: He never did, okay.

EO: No.

AL: What did you think was gonna happen after Pearl Harbor?

EO: We didn't have an idea. I was still, I had, I was still fifteen at that time. And my geography was so poor I didn't even know where Pearl Harbor was until the kids told me it was on Hawaii. And I had an idea that was somewhere in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

AL: Did you father say anything about what he thought? I mean, did he think Japan would win or lose or anything?

EO: He, actually as far as the war starting, was very surprised. And like any, or many of the Isseis, their... not allegiance, but their devotion to the homeland was pretty strong. So he would say, "Japan will probably win, win the war." Because they were making such advances into Malaysia and all the southern, South Asian islands at that time.

AL: And did he say anything to you about your situation as an American, if Japan won the war?

EO: No, he didn't. He never dwelt on it too much. But just that he thought maybe Japan would probably win simply, again, because of his devotion to the motherland. But he kept telling us we're Americans. So, he wanted us to continue American ways.

AL: Do you think he wanted Japan to win or he just thought that it would win?

EO: I think it was that he thought, because I think he enjoyed his life here. One of the reasons why is once he was picked up by the FBI and interrogated, at one point I think they asked him if he wanted to be repatriated to Japan. And he had told them that if he is repatriated, that he would want to take us, the three boys, with him. But he never was, so that's one reason why I'm still here. [Laughs] So it was a pretty close call.