<Begin Segment 12>

LT: Let's talk about going home. And Hood River, your hometown, had received national publicity for actions that had taken there. What did you know about Hood River?

JH: I didn't know much 'til I got home, and then Ray Sato mentioned that when they got home, he and Sat, they went to get a haircut. And they said, "We don't allow Japs in here." So Ray said, "We just walked out and went home." But that lasted for a few, I don't know how long, but then all of a sudden all that went away, and it was fine, just back to a normal way.

LT: And Ray Sato, who was a neighbor of yours, was one the first three Japanese Americans to return to Hood River in January 1945. So when did you get home?

JH: My parents left us, once they released us from camp, they went home. But I came home a year later, 'cause I was in New York. And then I took the train and came home.

LT: So that was in 1946?

JH: '6, I think.

LT: Okay. And what do you remember about coming home on the train?

JH: No one seemed to say... I mean, the train wasn't full, there was very few people on the train. And they... not one person ever talked to me or looked at me or anything. And, of course, once I got home, my parents were there to meet me.

LT: Okay. And what did your parents tell you?

JH: I don't recall anything that they mentioned, only -- oh, I guess they did mention that when Sat and Ray and they came home, they had little problems, but after that, it didn't last long.

LT: And what problems did you know about in Hood River, not only that Sat, Ray, and Min experienced when they came home, but about Hood River in general? What did people tell you?

JH: They didn't say much to us, if they did, I don't recall.

LT: Well, when you came home to your home and your brothers and your parents were there, and your farm, what did you see? It was your home for four years.

JH: Yeah, it just looked natural. When the time you left, it didn't seem like, there was no change, I don't think.

LT: What about the farm, had it grown?

JH: I don't remember. Of course, the trees were big already, so there wouldn't be much difference.

LT: And you mentioned your family had an expectation from the Waltons that your farm would be cared for. Did that work out?

JH: Yes, it really did, 'cause we had heard that some farms were just burned down, and they weren't willing to give it up. I don't remember what farm, who it was, maybe someone from Dee, I don't recall. But no, Waltons did, it was just fine.

LT: And what kinds of things did the Waltons do to take care of your farm when you were gone?

JH: The normal, whatever we would have done, I mean, they harvested the crop and kept the weeds down.

LT: Okay. So in 1946, most Japanese Americans had been home for almost a year. And so you came home, were there any experiences that you had with neighbors that you recall that were either negative or positive?

JH: No, uh-uh.

LT: No one said or did anything?

JH: No, they didn't.

LT: Now, I do understand that your brother Charlie had been a basketball player?

JH: I don't remember that. He was in Chicago. After leaving camp, he went to Chicago. But I don't remember if he came, I don't recall whether he came... I'm sure he was home before I was.

LT: Okay. Did you learn about any racism that he experienced when he was a basketball player?

JH: No.

LT: So were there any adjustments that you needed to make when you came home, because you'd been gone for four years? You'd been to New York, you'd been to different communities, and now you're back at home.

JH: No, I didn't...

LT: What kinds of adjustments did you have to make?

JH: I don't think I had much of an adjustment. Getting back to the routine that we left when we left for camp, back to helping on the farm.

LT: Oh, okay. So whereas in camp, you didn't have a job, now you're back at home. So what was your day like once you resettled in Parkdale?

JH: Parkdale? I think we still had, we didn't have strawberries anymore, so I think got up, asparagus were growing, we'd go out, back to cutting asparagus and hoeing around the trees.

LT: A long day again.

JH: Yes.

LT: How many days a week did you work?

JH: I think we worked every day... well, we didn't work on Sundays. But other than that, we worked every day.

LT: Okay. And your whole family worked together.

JH: Uh-huh.

LT: Did you and the Japanese American community take part in events again? Did you celebrate New Year's Day like you had in the past?

JH: No, I don't think we did after the war, after we got back from camp. I don't remember going to any doings with other families.

LT: Okay. Then let me ask you this question. Before the war, you and other Japanese American families ate Japanese food and you celebrated New Year's Day. And after the war, you didn't meet with Japanese American families and you didn't recognize Japanese holidays as much. Was that a, was there a reason? Was it because of the war? Do you have any ideas why that might have happened?

JH: I have no idea why. Maybe it's because the kids were grown older and they more or less went their own way. We had things to do like with the hakujin friends once they got back, like going to basketball games or going to see a movie.

LT: Okay, so it sounds as if your life was more integrated with the community.

JH: Uh-huh.

LT: But you didn't spend as much time doing Japanese kinds of things there.

JH: No.

<End Segment 12> - Copyright © 2014 Oregon Nikkei Endowment and Densho. All Rights Reserved.