Densho Digital Archive - Ayako Nishi Fujimoto - Kyoko Nishi Tanaka - Nancy Nishi Interview (denshovh-fayako

<Begin Segment 25>

RP: The other very tragic event in Manzanar was the so-called "riot" or incident?

AF: Oh, yeah. But I was young, too young, I think. I know, I remember the commotion, but that's all I knew. But I didn't even know why, or the particulars about it.

KT: I remember it happening, but I don't remember anything about it. I think we were too young. All I know is sitting on the front porch on the steps and just watching everything go on, but I can't remember anything about it. I vaguely remember...

NN: Was there a large crowd or something?

KT: No, I just remember people running around and yelling.

NN: Oh, really?

RP: There was a large crowd that gathered near the police station down near the front entrance where the sentry posts...

KT: We weren't too far from the entrance, so that's probably...

RP: Yeah, you weren't too far away. And of course, there were shots fired by the military police into two Niseis, died.

AF: Oh, really?

RP: One was a high school student, James Ito.

KT: I don't recall that at all.

RP: Then there was a great commotion about a month later, a "loyalty questionnaire."

KT: "No-nos."

RP: The "no-nos" and "yes-yeses," and a lot of controversy over how we're gonna answer the questions, and some families...

AF: Yeah, I remember that.

RP: ...chose at that moment, they decided they were going to back to Japan, they went to Tule Lake.

KT: Tad was one of the "no-no" boys.

NN: Really?

KT: I think the whole family. My husband's...

NN: Well, they didn't go to Tule Lake, though, did they?

KT: Yeah, they did.

NN: Oh, they did?

AF: Yeah. I think only a month or so, and then they came out.

KT: I just married one of 'em afterwards.

NN: It was "yes-yes," right?

RP: "Yes-yes." So your husband's family, the Tanakas were in Manzanar?

KT: Yes, they were in Manzanar, but I didn't know him at that time.

RP: Do you know what block they lived in?

KT: Six or somewhere?

AF: Twenty-three?

KT: Was it twenty-three?

AF: Yeah, way up there in the hills.

KT: Across the firebreak, anyway.

RP: That's interesting. In our little movie, we have some color footage of the camp. And I seem to remember one of the barracks, there was a sign that says "Tanaka."

AF: Oh, really?

RP: I think it said 23.

KT: He was in 23.

RP: I'll have to look at that.

AF: Maybe that was, yeah, he had about two older brothers.

KT: Shig and Tad, and then Aki.

RP: You say that they did go to Tule Lake?

KT: I don't know whether he went to Tule Lake or not.

AF: Just briefly, maybe, if he did go. Maybe about a month.

KT: 'Cause I didn't know him in camp, I met him after he got out.

[Interruption]

AF: The YMCA started a group, they opened up a bunch of girls, I remember, called, and said, "We're going to have little clubs." And so I remember joining it, and my sister and I joined in the club. And to this day, we're fairly close together. We call ourselves the Forget Me Nots. Silly name. But I thought that was very good, the camp group, the YMCA group to start a girl's organization. They kept the girls together for all these years, my goodness.

RP: That's great. Kiyo, do you have any other stories, experiences about camp?

KT: I can't think of any. The only thing, when anyone mentions camp, the only thing I could say is I've never seen so many Japanese in one place. That's the only thing that comes out in my mind. And it was very exciting for me because I was just a teenager, fourteen, fifteen, it was very important that I saw so many people.