“You know, before we left, we were like little kids. When you go into camp, you got to grow up. You're aware of other things besides yourself. And you're nobody.”

“The coyotes would come down from the mountains. At night you could hear them thundering and howling and so that was a very frightening time because the camp was emptying and that was happening.”

“He had seen me entertain pre-war days at the Nisei Week talent show. He heard me singing, and I was 14, and he says he was smitten. He says, ‘I’m going to marry that girl.’

“We had our Christmas tree and my dad said we would take the last family picture before he had to turn in all the cameras, swords and everything into the police station.”

“My dad used to fish. But we didn’t have any equipment so he caught fish with his hands. He would walk along the stream and he would stick his hand in. He found out if you cradled them and gently took them out of the water, they wouldn’t move.”

“I think those who had a positive attitude learned to enjoy themselves and make the most of it. My father was tickled pink because he could play poker, he found some poker buddies to play with.”

“I know even in camp when it was declared Japan lost the war, some of these men were very adamant about Japan, they just couldn’t believe it. They went back thinking that they did not lose the war. But the Japanese, they’re just so strong.” 

“For my mother, for one to fight the other, she couldn’t deal with it. And she couldn’t deal with people calling her the enemy. And she couldn’t deal with working in the factory, sometimes 12 hours a day. She was not a strong woman. Also, I’m a stupid 14-year-old at Seabrook and I don’t have the ability to do things like wash my own clothes and things.” 

“Misery and stuff like that, I never knew about it. The only way I knew was because I was told by my older brothers and sisters. That it wasn't all peaches and cream.”