<Begin Segment 6>

LT: Let's talk about Pearl Harbor. On December 7, 1941, Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. How old were you and what were you doing?

KY: I was in the kitchen at the time, and the screen door opened and slammed, and my sister ran into the house, I was in the kitchen having breakfast. And my sister says, "Japan bombed Pearl Harbor." And to me, I said, "What? Where's Pearl Harbor?" [Laughs] I never thought of it any other way. She says, "Hawaii." "Oh, okay." And that was the end of that conversation. I felt, "What is little Japan attacking a big country like the United States?" but there's a lot of history to this. After I found out because of the balance of trade was not in favor of Japan, it was favor of the other nation. And the only way for Japan to survive is to get equal treatment, and I think that's the reason why they attacked the United States and retaliation. At least that's what I read.

LT: So you wondered where Pearl Harbor was. What were you thoughts? Were you worried, were you scared? How did you feel?

KY: I felt kind of depressed at first. As a matter of fact, I didn't want to go to school that morning, but I did go. All my classmates never interacted in any way against you because you were Japanese, and that made me feel much better after that.

LT: So no one said anything or did anything?

KY: No one. Not one.

LT: Did anyone express remorse or support for you?

KY: No. End of subject when I went to school. Nobody talked about it.

LT: And you were a senior at Fife High School at the time.

KY: Yes, senior.

LT: Okay. Well, how did that affect your parents and your family life?

KY: You know, I can't read their minds, but I'm quite sure they were really concerned. I could see it on their face that they were concerned. They never expressed it in words, their concern, but I could see that they were, they were same as if they were thinking what the future would bring them because of that.

LT: So were there cautions afterwards in terms of travel or making purchases or home searches? What happened to you and your family in the days after Pearl Harbor?

KY: Nothing. Everything was like it was before, nothing. Everybody treated us fine, and we were surprised when President Roosevelt executed 9066, and all the Japanese on the West Coast were incarcerated in concentration camps. That probably hit me more than anything. Matter of fact, the mayor of Tacoma, Mayor Cain, says, "Do not take them to camp. You leave them where they are, I'll vouch for them." But government won't listen to him. Did you know that? You know, it takes a lot of guts from the person, especially the mayor, to come out like that.

LT: Did your neighbors take action or say anything?

KY: No. They were just as much shocked as I was.

LT: Well, your family had a huge farm. What arrangements did you need to make?

KY: Okay. My brother had a good friend in Tacoma, and he had a market, his name is Harvey Braga. He volunteered to take care of our farm after we got back. We had everything planted, some about ready to harvest already. I said, "You keep all the money, you just take care of the farm." So that was the arrangement we made, and when we came back, he handed the farm back to us, and started all over again.

LT: Now you were going to high school, you were a senior. How did you finish out your year?

KY: Well, sixty years later, I actually graduated in January. So I was through school, because I graduated in... not everyone did, but I did because I was the valedictorian and my school was open.

LT: You finished your credits early?

KY: Oh, yeah. Then we were formally, (...) the formal graduation was sixty years later, you saw that certificate up there. That was sixty years later, we had our formal graduation. I thought that was pretty good.

<End Segment 6> - Copyright © 2014 Oregon Nikkei Endowment and Densho. All Rights Reserved.