Densho Digital Archive - Yukiko Miyahara Interview (denshovh-myukiko

<Begin Segment 12>

KP: So, in 1943 they sent around, they did the "loyalty oath."

YM: Uh-huh.

KP: And what sort of discussions did your family there in Jerome have about that?

YM: Well, at first my husband felt that he should go to Japan because he had a stepmother living there and he says, as the only son he should look after his mother. So we signed up to go to Japan because of that. Then when my husband thought it over, he thought, "Why should I take a wife and two children to Japan that doesn't know anything about Japan?" And also he asked that he's gonna change his mind and we'll stay in America. And we were okay. So...

KP: But you originally both signed "no-no"?

YM: No, we didn't sign "no-no" I don't think. I think we just signed "no" on one and then we told them why. I forgot how it went.

KP: And your, your aunt and uncle didn't go to Tule Lake?

YM: Well my... they, the reason we went is because he wanted to go and we couldn't send him by himself, their self, 'cause he was an ill man. So then he died. We got there in October and he died in April. And then when he was in Arkansas, my father asked if he could to go to see him and they said he's not sick enough for somebody to come to see him. So when we went to Tule, it's closer. So my father asked again and they said he wasn't sick enough for him to visit. So then when he died, my brother and I, we said the same thing. They're not brothers but they're closer than brothers and so I said, we asked that at least they let him come to the funeral. So they allowed my mother and father to come from Manzanar to Tule Lake for the funeral.

KP: So your aunt and uncle and you and Toshio and two children now...

YM: Well, my daughter was born after my uncle had passed away.

KP: Okay. So that would have been in Tule Lake?

YM: Uh-huh.

KP: So it was just the five of you then who went from Jerome to Tule Lake?

YM: Uh-huh.

KP: And that would be another train trip across the country?

YM: Uh-huh.

KP: Anything memorable about that trip?

YM: Oh it was horrible. 'Cause this time it's not a regular train. It's like a freight train like. And then the dining room was just a long table in one of the things. And it was horrible.

KP: Where did you ride?

YM: Huh?

KP: Where, what kind of car were you in?

YM: It was in a regular car but we just sat. You know, there's no place to sleep or anything. You had to sit with the kids. They weren't gonna take us on a luxury tour, you know, so, anyway, I, all I remember is when we crossed Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, everybody said, they said nothing sinks and a lot of people threw their paper plate out the window, and I remember that. [Laughs] See if it really does sink or not.