<Begin Segment 21>

TI: Well, so you came to this, the Ontario area, but then you, shortly after, then you joined the service?

YS: Yeah, I went in the service.

TI: Were you drafted, or did you volunteer?

YS: No, I volunteered.

TI: Now why'd you volunteer?

YS: Well, all these guys were, going in, they said... well, I went in with Kamihara Ogura and Kami Kido and a bunch of 'em, and Kamihara said, "Let's go in for two years and we get four years of college." I said, "All right, I'll go for that." So I go in there, and he comes out in a year and a half, and I had to serve the extra time.

TI: Now why is that? Why'd you have extra time?

YS: Well, we signed up for two years.

TI: And he only did a year and a half?

YS: He only did a year and a half, he got to come back. And I told him, "You're the one who talked me into it, and you come back?" [Laughs]

TI: So why only a year and a half, because they didn't have anything for him to do?

YS: Most of them was a year and a half, see. Most of the thing was a year and half, you just go for a year and a half. But like I say, he says the two years and we get to go to four years of college, and I said all right.

TI: But you stayed longer, but then you were also shipped to Japan, right?

YS: Yeah, I got to go to Japan.

TI: And what was your job in Japan, or what was your...

YS: I worked in the provost court, that town.

TI: So this is kind of like the law kind of...

YS: Yeah, that's whatever they try 'em on, Japanese people and stuff.

TI: So it's kind of like a civil court?

YS: Yeah, it's kind of just a civil court like.

TI: And so what was your job?

YS: We was a clerk, they called us a clerk. But there was quite a few Nihonjins in there, too.

TI: Now did you have to use Japanese, too?

YS: Yeah, if you talked to certain ones. But the judges and everything, they were all GIs, the officer.

TI: And you would try, like, Japanese civilians would come?

YS: Yeah, some Japanese civilians, it's black market or whatever, where they have trouble otherwise.

TI: It sounds like it might be kind of interesting work.

YS: Yeah. I mean, we lived out of town of Tokyo a little ways, but then we used to drive in every day to downtown Tokyo, that's where we worked.

TI: So were there any cases or trials that really stand out in your mind as being interesting or memorable?

YS: Well, I don't remember too many of those.

TI: Okay. And when you were in Japan, did you visit any of your relatives?

YS: Yeah, that's the one. I went... see, this girl I used to work with, she wrote for me to relatives, to tell 'em that they want to come sometime and whatever. I got, we got all that work done and I went down there to visit, like, say, my mother's sister's kids, and that's where I stayed. I forgot how many days I stayed there. That's the one that I go with him, we go to the bath and they swim. They were younger, their kids were younger.

TI: And so what did they think of you? Here you are an American soldier...

YS: Yeah, that's why, so I'm walking around with a camera, and they said, "Oh, teppo, teppo." [Laughs]

TI: Teppo, teppo, what does that mean?

YS: Gun.

TI: Oh, I see. They thought you had a gun, but it was just a camera.

YS: It was just a camera, and they said, teppo, teppo. Yeah, no, he stayed there and waited for me all day. I guess he must have got it crossed up, the time.

TI: And how was the family doing in terms of things like food and supplies? Were they doing okay? Because I hear a lot of the families, it was pretty hard for some of them.

YS: Yeah, they were, I guess they were... I guess they were all right. I went out to the country, but my mom's sister passed away before I got there. But it's an old house, like I say, a straw roof and everything.

TI: That must have been fun to see.

YS: Yeah. But the one that I stayed with, they lived in town, they got the regular house. The other one out in the country, it was a straw roof.

TI: Now do you remember, when you went to go visit them, did you bring gifts or anything?

YS: Yeah, I just brought some foodstuff that we can get. They really appreciated it, I guess.

TI: So did you just visit them once, or did you go more than once?

YS: No, I just went down there that one time.

TI: Now what did you think of Japan? This was the country of your parents, did you... did it feel comfortable to you?

YS: Yeah. I think it really, I liked about it was honest. Just like you go in the store and they got cameras and stuff just sitting out in the open, you know. You think somebody'd steal it, they don't steal it. And then just like when we went back to visit there, we went back there about ten years later or whatever. And suitcase and stuff, they said, "Just leave it between the car." "It's out in the open." "Yeah, it'll be all right." Yeah, you get to your destination, heck.

TI: No, it is nice not to have to worry about those things.

YS: Yeah, just like ladies, they come in and eat, they come and get the table, they leave their purses and everything there and get their food and then come back. That's where I, I mean, that was really nice, I thought.

TI: Any other memories about Japan that stand out for you in that, especially that first trip when you went down, anything else?

YS: No.

TI: Now, did any of your Japanese relatives come and visit you in the United States?

YS: No, they never come up this way, even the young kids.

TI: So how long were you in Japan?

YS: From January 'til August, it was about two years or a year and a half. I was there from... I was in the service two years, and I was there a year and a half or longer.

TI: So all that Japanese school training paid off a little bit.

YS: Yeah. Actually, I should have been serious. [Laughs]

TI: But it was probably a good opportunity to learn more Japanese.

YS: Oh, yeah, it was.

<End Segment 21> - Copyright © 2014 Oregon Nikkei Endowment and Densho. All Rights Reserved.