<Begin Segment 13>

MR: Did you work for redress?

MY: Yes.

MR: What activities did you involve yourself in that regard?

MY: Well, we tried to spread the word through the community to get support, and we would go to meetings, I guess, sign petitions, or pass petitions around. We would go and talk to students about the evacuation and the redress.

MR: And how did you feel when the bill was signed and your efforts had paid off? I don't mean paid off in a monetary way, but you just saw the fruits of your efforts.

MY: Well, it was a good feeling that we had succeeded because there was some doubt, of course, whether or not there would be success. However, it was sad to think that the people who really should have seen redress, the Issei, and then the people who worked so hard for it like Min were already gone. And what we did was very little, but the ones who suffered the most were the older people, and the ones who worked the hardest weren't there to benefit from the results.

MR: When you were working for redress, what did your children think? Did they say anything about how you were spending all this time doing these things and you know?

MY: No. I think our children were pretty much accustomed to having Dad and Mom go to meetings and to be busy, and then they were also very busy. About the time of redress, I believe Barbara was at Stanford already or at the end of her high school career, and they were all very busy with their activities too. But I think they understood how we felt about it and were supportive.

MR: After your children left home, then what were your major activities?

MY: Well, there was Folk Fest, a celebration in 1976 of all the different ethnic groups in the city forming a council and putting together a big celebration for the bicentennial and that introduced me to the leaders of other groups, and it was very interesting, and I got to know many, many people, some of whom are still very good friends. And even though the Folk Fest was originally for 1976, it was so much fun that we all continued for many years after that, and I believe it was at least ten years that we continued to meet and have activities together.

<End Segment 13> - Copyright © 2003 Oregon Nikkei Endowment and Densho. All Rights Reserved.