Densho Digital Archive - Henry Nakano Interview (denshovh-nhenry-01-0032)

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RP: I don't know if you... let's see, did you directly participate in that "loyalty questionnaire" that came out or were you still too young?

HN: No, that was before my time.

RP: 1943.

HN: I was too young. Just my brother.

RP: Just your brother?

HN: Yeah.

RP: And how did he answer?

HN: I think he put "yes-no," like most, which is... he didn't say "no-no" though. He said, I forget what order the questions were in.

RP: First question, you know, "Are you willing to serve in the armed forces whenever ordered to do so?" or volunteer?

HN: Yeah, I think that was "yes." They said, "Will you fight against the Japanese soldiers?" or something.

RP: The second one was the loyalty, direct loyalty question, loyalty to the, forswear loyalty to the emperor of Japan.

HN: He said "no" to that. So he was one of the "yes-nos" which weren't pulled into Tule Lake. The "no-nos" went to Tule Lake. That's as far as I can remember about that. We were too young to answer those questions.

RP: The other thing that kind of shook up the camp tremendously was the "riot."

HN: Yeah. That was right down the street from us, all the way down there in Block 1.

RP: Block 5 is not very far away.

HN: Yeah, we were right down the street.

RP: Did you hear shots?

HN: Yeah. Heard shots.

RP: Where were you when those shots rang out?

HN: I can't recall. I really can't. Don't even know what time of day it was. All I know is it was a big commotion down there and my folks said, "Stay away. Stay home."

RP: Did you know or have any acquaintanceship with one of the Niseis who was killed, Jimmy Ito?

HN: No, not at all. I didn't know them.

RP: So other than your involvement with the reunions has kind of shaped your, Manzanar has kind of shaped your experiences in that course, is there anything else that has affected you as a result of your time in camp?

HN: Actually, my time in camp really was kids playing with kids. So really I wasn't old enough, I don't think, to really have an effect on me, you know, as far as the things that should have affected me if I was older. So I'd have to say no, it didn't affect me other than I was in camp, I was part of camp. And went to school, you know, and played sports, and that's about it as far as... made friends there. And those friends, I still have a few that I still communicate with. But, other than that, no. Everything's copacetic. [Laughs]