Note: I interviewed Ms. Yuki, a Japanese lady who lived at the senior housing place where my sisters and I perform music monthly. This interview allowed me to hear a first-hand account of a person’s life in Japan during World War II. A few of my ‘questions’ are not really questions; they are my thoughts when listening to Ms. Yuki’s answers. My questions are italicized and Ms. Yuki’s answers are in regular type and indented. I really enjoyed this assignment! Thank you so much for being willing to be interviewed! Did your parents immigrate to America? Well, my mom was born here and my father in Japan. Why did your parents immigrate to America? My mom was born here. My dad came to college and that’s where they met. Can you describe what …show more content…
My husband was eighteen years old, drafted, and he was a pilot and he was in the Kamikaze pilot* and he was, oh, scheduled to die when he was a teen. And, of course, I didn’t talk of being born in America myself, because we won’t have any friends. You know, nobody’s gonna like some people born in the United States. But things changed. Things changed once the war ended. Everybody wanted to learn English and I already spoke English. Then, my uncle got me over to Hawaii. I finished high school in Hawaii and went to nursing school and I became a nurse. And I’ve been a nurse, you know, ever since. But the war years were very difficult, having been born in the United States. My sister and I were both born in the United States. Could you please explain relatives who were in the internment camps? Oh, I didn’t have anyone directly related to me who were in the internment camps. The only experience I can really tell you about is my husband being a pilot in the Japanese air force. It was very hard for him for the fact that Japan lost the war. It was a real number on the people over country. I speak both English and Japanese; I read and write both. But, oh so many years now, I’m very happy that peace is here. We always have to work and be friends with everyone in the world. It’s an effort that we have to, you know, teach our children. Do it ourselves. Those were very difficult times. So how did you and your husband