<Begin Segment 18>

RP: Didn't you have a plan to voluntarily relocate but unfortunately it didn't work out?

TI: Yeah, uh-huh. We had planned to go inland but the man that was supposed to lead us, he was picked up by the FBI too. The owner of the nursery, he was supposed to.

RP: Do you remember his name?

TI: Yeah, Masuda was his name.

RP: Masudo?

TI: Masuda. The nursery was called the Venice Boulevard Nursery. And he had a real good business there because he was close to the, several movie theaters, movie MGM and they were his customers.

RP: And do you know where inland you were planning to go?

TI: Well, I think it was around Utah or one of the inland area. Because I don't think they were bothered, if I'm not mistaken. It was just on the West Coast that we were all removed.

RP: So what was that forty hour, forty-eight hours like for you on Terminal... the last forty-eight hours of your life on Terminal Island?

TI: Yeah, well, there wasn't much we could do because we contacted our friend and he said, yeah, he'd help us move out. But the truck would only carry the groceries that was in the house, in the store. And he got rid of those for us too.

RP: And how did you get rid of the food?

TI: Well, there were various... what would you call... I don't know what the name would be. Camp site, you know, Japanese laborers.

RP: Agricultural workers?

TI: Huh?

RP: Agricultural workers?

TI: Yes. They had a shack or whatever. And he went to those places and he got rid of the groceries for us.

RP: Do you remember any Caucasians, Quakers or other groups who came to the island during that time to help families out? Pack things up? Haul things away?

TI: No, I don't think I've heard of any. I personally haven't met any group like that. But there was some farmers, you know, that came with their big truck and they moved out some Japanese families, uh-huh. Yes, forty-eight hours isn't very long. If you had a place to go, you know, forty-eight hours would be just about right. But without any intentions of a certain area, forty-eight hours is just like being kicked out.

RP: So you settled in Venice?

TI: Venice for a while, yes. Until our friend Mr. Masuda got picked up by the FBI.

RP: Were there other families from Terminal Island that came with you to Venice?

TI: Yes, this was a large two story building. And there was three families in there.

RP: The other two families?

TI: Yes, the other two families and us.

RP: Their names?

TI: Gosh... one was Fujimi and I don't recall what the other one was. Fujimi and Asari or...

RP: So this plan fell through when Mr. Masuda was picked up. Then what happened?

TI: So, well, just about that time I got a notice from the... I don't know what the outfit but we got a, I got a notice saying that former Terminal Islanders were being taken to a camp together. So I went to this office and inquired if they'd take my sister and her family along too. But she being non-Terminal Island -- she was living here in Los Angeles -- they said no, they can't do it. So we figured well, why break up the family. So we'll just stay with my older sister and when the order come for her to move out we'll just go together. So that's why instead of going to Manzanar we went to Gila. We ended up in Gila.

RP: And where was your sister living at that time?

TI: I think she lived around 150 and Main, if I'm not mistaken.

RP: Downtown Los Angeles?

TI: Yes, uh-huh. They had a small grocery store there too. She, her husband and his brother, I guess, that they were in the business together.

RP: This was your older sister?

TI: Yes, my older sister.

<End Segment 18> - Copyright © 2010 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.