Densho Digital Archive - Dorothy Ikkanda Interview (denshovh-idorothy-01-0015)

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RP: Dorothy, just going back a little ways to after the war started, there were, some of the restrictions that were put on Japanese Americans, you could not travel beyond five miles. And there was a period of a lot fear and uncertainty with these FBI guys roaming around. A lot of families decided to get rid of anything "Japanesey," photographs or pictures of the emperor, or burying swords, burning anything, dolls. Do you remember any of your...

DI: Well, you know, it's strange because I grew up on Pier Avenue, 508 Pier Avenue. But my father had a business in Reno, so a lot of times he wasn't home. So I think when war started, I think my mother was there by herself, wasn't she? I think she was because my older sister was in Japan. My younger sister, she was in Japan. So my mother was there alone.

RP: How about your older brother?

DI: My older brother was in Japan, wasn't he? See, that's where my memory fades. No, but he couldn't have been. He was living there, huh? Let's see. Was he, was he married? He married Grace? Oh, he wasn't living there. I can't remember.

RP: So your mom might have been alone.

DI: She might have been there by herself. Remember Henry was living there, going to UCLA. He was going to be a dentist, and he went to UCLA. I think he was living there with my mother.

RP: And where did Henry end up? Did he end up going to Manzanar, too?

DI: You know, I can't remember. Where did he end up going? He wasn't in Manzanar, was he? So I don't know where he went.

RP: Did your mom end up there, too?

DI: No, my mother was in Reno.

RP: Oh, she went up to Reno, okay.

DI: Yeah. And I was just trying to think... yeah. Part of that just, I can't remember.

RP: We were talking about the trip up to Reno that you guys took. There was, you mentioned when we talked on the phone, that your family had a reunion of some kind in Reno, and they came down to pick you up?

DI: Oh, yeah. My sister, they came back from Japan on the Gripsholm, and he worked for the War Department in Washington.

RP: That was James.

DI: Arlington, Virginia, uh-huh. James Hamasaki. And since we were the only family members that were not there when they came to visit in Reno, so they came, they got a permit and came to visit us in camp.

RP: In Manzanar?

DI: And stayed, I think he stayed two nights.

RP: James and...

DI: James and my sister Clara.

RP: Clara came?

DI: They left the little boy in Reno because they didn't know what conditions were like. And so they, they had that escort bus between Reno and Manzanar, and they, they came on that, I think, yeah. And so they spent a couple nights, I think, and then went back.

RP: And yeah, so they, that's when you got to know their story a little bit, about being swapped for the exchange.

DI: Uh-huh. He was, they were lucky to be able to come back. 'Cause he was born right during that Doolittle raid, she was in the hospital with a baby, new baby. She said she didn't know what was going on, but the nurses were scurrying around, made sure everybody had their IDs on. But they were fortunate.