<Begin Segment 7>

VO: So then do you remember the move to Minidoka?

EO: You know, I really don't. I know we had to pack up and move, and I can't remember... I guess we went by train. I just don't remember too much about that.

VO: And do you remember arriving?

EO: In Minidoka? Kind of. It was September, so it must have been pretty dusty. We were living in, they put us in Block 21, I think, but most, some of our close church members were elsewhere, so we asked to be moved. So then we moved to another block.

VO: Did you continue having services in Minidoka?

EO: Yes, they had, the Buddhists got together, all the Buddhist ministers got together, and they had Buddhist services for all Buddhists, not the various denominations. We had that for a while, which was different. Then Reverend Terao, who was my dad's assistant minister, decided he wanted his own, the Jodo Shinshu service. So he started his own services, so we went there.

VO: So Reverend Terao was not taken.

EO: No, he wasn't. I don't know why, but he was not taken.

VO: So there were a few that were still left and able to hold, to do the services.

EO: There were quite a few ministers that were in Minidoka. But Reverend Terao, oh Reverend Terakawa of Portland, he was, he was a very liberal-minded minister, and he held summer school for us. But it was very sad, he passed away in camp.

VO: From illness?

EO: I can't remember what exactly it was, but he did pass away in camp. He was a very liberal-minded, very nice person.

VO: Describe your family's living quarters.

EO: Okay, we had one room, maybe the size, maybe three-fourths of this room, or two-thirds. And there were my mother and seven kids with army cots. So one of our friends, he was a good member of the temple, he was a very skillful carpenter. So he built in two bunkbeds against one wall with built-in cabinets in the center. I drew a picture of all this to send to my dad. Built-in laundry chute, built-in dresser, he was very, very clever. So it was really nice that we had some floor space instead of all beds.

VO: So you said you drew that and sent it to your father?

EO: I drew it, I thought I could find the picture, but I guess, somebody must have destroyed it.

<End Segment 7> - Copyright © 2013 Oregon Nikkei Endowment and Densho. All Rights Reserved.