<Begin Segment 8>

KP: When do you recall learning, or when you became aware that you were going to have to leave your home and go someplace else?

MS: I don't recall. I don't know how close to the time it was.

KP: And where did your family go first?

MS: First, we went to Pomona Assembly Center.

KP: And you'd been there before?

MS: Yes, as a county fair. And so it wasn't that far I'm sure but it was a different setting because we were in those horse stalls and I do remember the stuffing the mattress with straw for our beds and things like that. And the walls were, well, the walls were thin, I mean it was just, it wasn't really anything. Not like a real enclosure but that's how it was. And there were many people. So, yeah, many people like us.

KP: So your previous experience have been kind of remembering a fun time? How did this compare?

MS: Yeah, and the only time we would see many people like us would be at those picnics or something like that. So it was different.

KP: What else do you remember about Pomona?

MS: I think we had those outdoor movies that we would just lie on the grass or whatever it was. But I think they had movies, so it was like the drive-in movie but you're just out there. And it's warm because it's summertime so it wasn't... I do remember movies. And I do remember we had a friend that later, her name was Jodell Yokoi. And later a family member became a relative of my sister, a brother-in-law of my sister's husband. So, and they lived, they were from Chino. See, and now my son lives in Chino Hills, where they never had a Chino Hills before but now they developed this Chino Hills by Chino. She was younger than us and we thought her parents were so sophisticated. Her mother smoked and my, what a grand, you know, to think, and she was a only child and she just hung out with us but, you know, it's funny things like that you remember? And well, now we hear about her and she's a mother and I mean, you know, she's just like everybody else. She grew up, too. But that was in Pomona and we never saw her after that, in Heart Mountain or any place. We don't know what happened to people.

KP: Did you, before you left to Pomona, do you remember putting things, trying to store things, trying to --

MS: No. Oh before? Yeah, we put things in the garage. Like the sewing machine and I don't what else we had that was of any value. But that's where it was stored.

KP: The garage at the house?

MS: Yeah, of the house.

KP: And you said you didn't remember what you actually took? Your mother probably packed for you?

MS: Yeah, I don't, I have no idea.

KP: So any other memories of Pomona? Anything stand out?

MS: Other than meeting Harry Murakami, and you know, I just remember the look on his face, that he's going to college and it was, I could just remember that so well. But that's about it.

KP: So even while he was in a assembly center he still had these aspirations?

MS: Yes, uh-huh. He did come back to this church and he was, oh, so we did go to see him, but he's retired and he's living in Southern California now. But I don't know, that just stays with me that he was just so joyful, just can't over that.

KP: Do you remember anything about the food at Pomona?

MS: No, nothing. I don't know what we ate. I don't know where we ate. I have no idea what we did there. It was summertime so I know there was no school. So all we did was play.

KP: And your parents, do you --

MS: I don't know what they did either.

KP: Do you remember any of the fences or guard towers at all?

MS: I don't think there was anything at Pomona. I don't think they changed it that much. It was just a temporary place so I don't think they did anything special.

KP: But you couldn't leave?

MS: Yeah, that's right, we couldn't leave. And I don't remember anybody visiting us but I do remember people seeing other people visit. But I don't remember anything like that.

KP: So when you, when did you, do you remember becoming aware that you were going to leave Pomona and go someplace else?

MS: I don't remember when we knew that. And I don't know if I was even affected. I mean, I just don't have a thought about it. I do remember the train ride, yeah, and they told us to keep the shades down. [Laughs] And then they would say things like, "Oh, we're going by Denver or the Great Salt Lake," and you know, things like that but that's about it. And we had never been on a train.

KP: What was that like?

MS: Well, I don't recall much about it. I do remember that it's noisy and you could hear the wheels on the tracks and things like that. And I had no idea where Wyoming was, well except on the map, but that it was such a different climate and different, it was a deserty kind of place. I didn't know all this until I got there.

KP: What did you do on the train ride? Do you remember doing anything?

MS: I don't remember doing anything special. Yeah, I don't know. I'm sure I was restless but I can't think of anything. I don't know if I read or did anything like that.

KP: Did the train ever stop and you guys get off the train? Do you remember?

MS: I don't recall getting off at all. I don't know how many days it took but we were just in these seats and that was it.

<End Segment 8> - Copyright © 2009 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.