<Begin Segment 7>

BH: So let's talk about the beginning of the war and what happened. Do you remember where you were when Pearl Harbor was bombed?

AK: Well, I know we were all working, and then Grandpa came running out, and he said, "Oh, something terrible happened." He said it in Japanese, though. And he said Pearl Harbor was bombed. And I remember we were all so, we couldn't say anything because it was such a shock. But we didn't think we would be relocated, though, at that time.

BH: Before you learned about relocation, what were you afraid of? What did you think might happen?

AK: I can't remember. I can't remember what we thought, but we knew something bad would happen, though.

BH: Did people treat you differently?

AK: Well, you know, for us, we were on the farm, so we didn't get out too much. But the menfolks, I think there were people that called them "Japs." But for the womenfolks, I guess we didn't hear much.

BH: Where did Kaz sell the produce?

AK: Hmm?

BH: Where did Kaz sell the produce from the farm?

AK: He went to the market, farmer's market, every morning. But they sure had to work hard. Because they would go about two o'clock in the morning, two-thirty in the morning, and they would come back home and start working. Didn't go to bed or rest until nighttime, and they worked hard.

BH: Did you ever go to the farmer's market with them?

AK: No, I didn't.

BH: So talking about the war, you were in shock when you heard about Pearl Harbor, and some of the menfolk had some things said about them. What happened within the community? Your father-in-law was pretty prominent in the Oregon Buddhist Church, and many of the community activists in the Japanese community were paid visits by the FBI. Did they go to your home?

AK: They did come. But he didn't have to go a special camp.

BH: Did you know that the FBI was going to come?

AK: Well, we were all afraid. I know we burned some things just to be careful. I don't think it was anything bad, but just to be on the safe side. Yeah, those were sad days. But the grandpa didn't have to go to any internment camp.

BH: Not to the Department of Justice camps. Were you aware of other families that were visited by the FBI?

AK: Yes. I guess that's all we talked about at that time. They weren't too many from the Gresham area that went to camp, though.

BH: What did the FBI agents do when they went to the house?

AK: Well, they just wanted to talk. They didn't ransack anything.

BH: And how did everybody else react when they showed up?

AK: Just worried and scared.

BH: Did Kaz or anybody, did you talk about it after they left?

AK: No. We're just typical Japanese, we don't.

BH: And were Kaz's brothers living with you at the same time?

AK: Yes, they were. And the second brother was already enlisted, and he was in the army. And my other brother, he joined the intelligence group, I guess.

BH: The MIS? The Military Intelligence Service?

AK: Uh-huh, after we went to camp.

BH: What were Kaz's brothers' names?

AK: Yoshio Kinoshita and Masao Kinoshita.

BH: And they lived with you and Grandma and Grandpa Kinoshita on the farm, okay. How did you learn about Executive Order 9066?

AK: I can't remember if he heard it from the market and then we knew we had to go. I guess somebody, he must have heard from the market and came home.

BH: And how did you and the family react to that?

AK: Oh, that was such a shock. But you couldn't hardly believe it until you actually leave, though. We all had to live in one room in the Portland Assembly Center.

<End Segment 7> - Copyright © 2014 Oregon Nikkei Endowment and Densho. All Rights Reserved.