page 11 of 11

Play Movie

Please report errors to: info@tellingstories.org.

5-HIroshima & Reflections

Were you in the camp when the atomic bombs were dropped?

Yes, we were. It was a very strange day, like the bomb had been dropped there, because everything stopped. No one was out, and no one said anything, it was just like a ghost town. I don't know why. When Roosevelt died, there was something of that too. I don't know how we felt about president Roosevelt but anyway, I thought he was a great president, even though he put us in camp. And when he died, we kind of mourned his death. Also, we were there during the surrender of Japan, and that was another day, where it was like a ghost town. It didn't really affect us, because Japan was not our country. But the people around us who were Japanese, and who were thinking of going to Japan, to hear the emperor say that we surrender – they had never heard the emperor talk, in fact, before that. To have the emperor say "we are surrendering" and so forth was a real devastation to them.

What was your reaction when you heard about the bomb?

I don't know, I thought it was a terrible thing to do. I had no one that I knew in Hiroshima at the time. I thought it was terrible.

Was your reaction any different when you all heard about the second bomb?

Nagasaki. No. It happened in Japan, and it was not immediate to us, but I don't know. I just felt bad, terrible about it.

Did it change your opinion of the US at all?

I don't know. I just thought it was a terrible thing.

How did your father feel about his family being regarded as "disloyal?"

He did ask us to leave, so that he could say, "my family has left, and they're loyal" and so forth. But to have us stay in Tule Lake, where we were considered disloyal Americans and so forth, it must have been hard for him. My distant cousin, who was serving in the army, visited him one time at the hospital. He had been drafted before the evacuation, and so he was on a furlough and he had visited my father, because there was no one else to visit unless he went to the camp. So he was outside, and he stopped by to say hello to my father. And that really was positive for my father.

How did you integrate yourself back into society after the camps?

Oh yes, that was strange. We came back to Loomis, which is that racist town where we had no friends. And they had a sign out saying "no Japs allowed" and it took a long time for them to take it down. By the time we came out, and we came out very late, the signs were down. Which didn't mean they were accepting us, but gradually they accepted us. Coming out, you wondered how people looked on you. You were coming out of prison after three, four years, and it was very strange. And in every situation, you wondered, "How are we being regarded?" It was always on our mind.

But I didn't stay in Loomis for long, probably for that very reason I wanted to go to another community. So as soon as I could, and that took about a year and a half, I left for Los Angeles, and back to the theatre business. Now, Los Angeles City College had a very fine theatre department. So I went there and I registered there, and I was going to take up acting. And I was discouraged by the business. There was no opportunity for Asian Actors. So I started to take writing. I was an English Major until I transferred to UCLA. Then I changed majors, became an Oriental or language major. I got my BA in Chinese and mainly Japanese. And then later I changed my major again, when I came up to Berkeley, and I was doing art history, so I have some background in art.

Why did you want to avoid other Japanese-Americans when you went to UCLA?

I didn't want to be asked, "What camp were you in?" That was the first question that any other Japanese-American, when they met, would ask, because that was our common experience. It was difficult to say you were in Tule Lake. I don't know, I didn't want to be with other Japanese-Americans. I don't know why I did that. Maybe I was trying to integrate, which didn't happen, but my friends were non-Japanese. A lot of them were Jewish, because they saw something in the experience. My best friend at Cal was a Jewish friend. He, in fact, killed himself.

Was he in a concentration camp?

No, but his relatives were. And he escaped the Nazis by first going to England, then to Canada, then down to California.

Where did you meet your wife?

At Berkeley. Having been in camp, I guess, I had a hard time finding a job, even with my degree. So I was in Berkeley, doing graduate work, kind of biding my time, and I was this perennial student. And my wife had gotten a job as a teacher in the Berkeley system, so she was in Berkeley. We met at the Buddhist temple; we would go there every Sunday. We were both from Placer County and, though I didn't know her, I knew her family, and so that's how we became acquainted. And as I say, I knew her as a child, at camp, which was a shocker to her.

After you were released, when did you decide to devote a large part of your life to telling your story and making people aware?

I first talked about it in the winter of 1974, when I was asked by a group from UC Berkeley to talk about it at a program that they had. So that's how I started, and people were very interested because they had not experienced it. Many of these were Japanese-American students; in fact most of the people were. And so to hear it from someone who had been in camp was something, and I realized that I should tell about it because no one else was, and people were so eager to hear about it. That's when I decided I would talk about it. But it was the young students who drew us out. It was only recently that people come to me and say, "tell me," because they were in Tule Lake, and it was as though they were telling it for the first time.

So most people kept it quiet?

Yes, they kept it quiet. And they're only telling me because I had been talking about it for many years now, and as I read from the book then they realize that I had been in Tule Lake. So they tell me. Some were born in Tule Lake, and others had relatives there, or parents there, or so forth. But they hadn't said anything about it, not even to their children or anybody.

Why do you think that is?

I think there's a feeling of guilt, and ostracism, and to get along with other people.

Did they feel they had been un-American?

I don't know. There must be some guilt behind it, that they took a certain stand, and maybe they were not being American. But the label that we've lived under was that we were disloyal Americans.

Was it just the No-No boys, or was it everyone in Tule Lake?
If you said that you were in Tule Lake, then you would make the connection that you were 'one of those,' and some of these people were women who were not really involved, I mean only as part of the family.

Looking back, how did your experience in the internment camp shape your life?

I think it affected me and the rest of my life after camp. First of all, it limited my career choice, and I had difficulty finding a job, and it delayed my career as well as my marriage. It's hard not to not think about camp. People tell me, "why are you not angry?" And I'm not. I don't feel bitter about it, because it's something that's happened in the past, way in the past, and although it's affected my life and circumscribed my life, that's part of my life. I've accepted that, and I don't feel bitter about it.

Do you feel you learned anything?

Oh yes, I learned a lot, mainly about myself.

What do you mean?

I'm not going to follow just to follow, and if I feel that I have a certain right, then I would fight for that. I would protest if there's anything that's wrong that's happening to me.

Do you have any thoughts on the importance of this project?

Yes, I'm very impressed with this project. The fact that the students are taking an interest in this project, and the fact that you are doing this and making it available to other schools and groups throughout the country, even throughout the world. That's very impressive to me. I think it's very important that everyone learn about this experience. And it's surprising how few people really know about it until someone brings up the subject. So yes, I'm very much pleased with this project. I commend thee, Urban School!

What impact do you think stories like this may have?

I think people will become aware of the consequences of some action that the government might take. Although I'm not too positive or optimistic that in a crisis situation it could not happen again, but I hope.