Densho Digital Archive - Roy Murakami Interview (denshovh-mroy

<Begin Segment 42>

RP: We were just discussing the...

RM: Political.

RP: The political issues that came after the camps. The redress and you were sharing your opinions about, that it came a little too late.

RM: For some people, I think so. There's a lot of Isseis that needed it. You wait twenty years to get it, I think it was twenty years before they got it.

RP: Actually forty.

RM: Yeah. So...

RP: How do you look back on those, on those Isseis, like your dad and what, what their role was here in America and...

RM: I think you would say, I would say that they were probably the foundation stones of the Japanese culture in America. They had schools, and they had judo, kendo. Now they're doing karate, things like that coming out. Odori, the dancing. Those are important things that should be kept alive. There's a lot of things that don't have to be kept alive but there's, I think those were the, some of the... but I don't know. There was a lot of in-fighting of this and that. Some of the things that I think should be brought up more is, like the, well, the VFW, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the guys in that for 442nd and 100th and Korean, we still look at guys' tombstones and salute them, you know. They should salute them more, too. And I would like to see Ralph P. Merritt have a opening in your building somewhere. You know, but he got a lot of, I think he's got a lot of information. And UCLA's got it but I don't know how to get to it. Because he was an important, a very important man I think as a director. I think he did America good job. After the guys there that was first.

RP: After the riot, yeah.

RM: Yeah. I mean, that there was too much hanky-panky, I guess.

RP: So in talking about your camp experience, it sounds like it was very positive for you?

RM: I don't know what you call positive, whether it would be positive.

RP: Well how do you reflect on it?

RM: Oh...

RP: Sixty...

RM: I remember. I try to tell kids, too. Sometimes they'll listen, sometimes they won't listen. I think that losing too much and going and figuring it out against cultures of Japan even though they're Japanese, too. I don't know how many generations, but should be about fifth now huh? Fifth or fourth generation. They had to be submerged in a little bit of that I think. And become proud, they would become prouder. They're Americans, yes. But they have Japanese in them.

RP: Do you have any questions?

KP: No, I think that just about covers it.

RP: Anything else you'd like to add, Roy?

RM: Oh, I'd like to thank you all, at the Manzanar. Taking care...

RP: You said, I know you visited last year, and you visited once before --

RM: Yeah, way before.

RP: -- as well. Do you, when you were there last year, was there anything that you, that you felt while you were there? Does it bring back all the memories or...

RM: Oh, yeah, well, seeing the, seeing the mess hall sort of brought back, you know, it brought back a lot of things. Because that's where we were almost centered in our, our teen months or whatever was in the mess hall. They had meetings and whatever. And...

RP: So it represents a lot of camp life to you.

RM: Yeah.

RP: How about standing there where the dojo used to be?

RM: Oh, that brings back some, but it's, you can't say it does lots. I would like to see a wall or something, maybe outlining the area that was dojo. That would be interesting.

RP: Roy, thank you very much.

RM: You're welcome.

RP: On behalf of Kirk and myself and National Park Service, we really appreciate your stories and sharing them with us.