January 26, 1943 1. Introduction As if I don't have enough work to do already

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January 26, 1943 1.
Introduction
As if I don't have enough work to do already; this keeping an hourly
account of my daily activities is going to be a terrific strain on me, and
all on account of that rogue of a James Sakoda. He just lets me read a few
of his articles in the journal but has the nerve to read all of mine and tell
me that they're too impersonal and not detailed enough. But, all kidding
aside, I really think that his advice is just and sound and it's a good idea
to try it for a week at least and see the results, I tried doing it once
when I was about eight years old and continued it for about three days, but
quit because it was too strenuous. This time, with the years of additional
experience and knowledge, I'm sure that I could keep it up for a longer length
of time,
James Sakoda
Since Jimmie is the cause of my starting this and because he thinks
I should mention people, I will start out by devoting a few lines to him,
a la Sakoda style. Let's see, what can I say? There's a chance that he
may read this so I'd better make it good. I first met him after the panel
discussion on the question of marriages in the Project, in which he was a
speaker. This was about a month after I had arrived at Tule Lake — around
the middle of August, I believe. I remember that I went to hear this discuss-
ion with some girls — Constance Murayama, Kazuye Tanabe, Agnes Morioka, and
some others whom I had met at the philosophy class conducted by Rev. Shigeo
Tanabe, which I attended about twice. Immediately after the discussion one
of the girls introduced me to JS and I recall that he immediately started
talking about marriage and said that contacts were necessary for the ultimate
result. When I said that I was too young to marry yet, he replied, "One is
never too young to get married." On the way home I thought that he was
quite an interesting person and I would like to know him better.
Several weeks later Frank Hijikata told me to come to meetings of
January 26, 1943 2.
the Creative Writing Club. At these weekly meetings I saw Jimmie from time
to time« "When he started his psychology classes I decided to attend since
I have always been interested in that subject. The better I got to know him
the more interesting he became. Never before had I met anyone with interests
in
similar to mine/the psychological field. This man has had the advantage of
both an English and Japanese education and has considerably more initiative
and is more conscientious than the average person. Well, I think that's
enough flattery.
Morning Service
Mother made me take my kid sister Kay with me, so I went with her and
two other girls in our block, Kimi Kageyama and May Kaname, to the morning
service at 4708. There was the regular singing of hymnsj
"GloriaPatri"
"Glory be to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Ghost,
As it was in the beginning, is now and
ever shall be;
World without end; amen, amen."
after the responsive reading. After the offering, the hymn
"We give Thee but Thine own,
Whate'er the gift may be;
All that we have is Thine alone,
A trust, 0 Lord, from Thee, Amen,"
We also sang two other hymns. Of the entire church service, I like the hymns
best. Perhaps the thing I like the least is the prayer. Most of them are
short, so it isn't too bad and prayers may be a necessary part of the ser-
vices; but I don't think too much of some people who give eloquent prayers
before the congregation as if they were making an oration. Oftentimes it
sounds like a farce because the person's deeds do not conform with his words.
And it does say in the Bible that one should not pray out in the crowd so
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January 28, 1943
everyone can hear him but to go into the closet and talk to God in private.
Rev. Shigeo Tanabe gave a seraon in which he explained the method by
•which he entered the ministry. At the time he was in high school he did not
have a clear conception of religion as most teen-age boys do not, A travel-
ing evangelist happened to ccrne to his town, and as he always liked to be
in everything from the first he was there the first night sitting in the
front seat. After giving a fiery sermon the evangelist told some people to
come up to the front and as Rev. Tanabe went up, the evangelist prayed and
prayed for the Christian spirit to enter the little Japanese boy's soul.
After praying for some time, the evangelist asked Rev. Tanabe whether the
spirit had entered his soul yet or not. Rev. Tanabe said that it had not,
so the evangelist prayed and prayed some more. The next time he was asked,
Rev. Tanabe judiciously said that the spirit had entered his soul, although
he admits that if the spirit had entered his soul he didn't know about it.
After entering college he got a clearer knowledge of religious conceptions.
Of all the ministers in the Project I like Rev. Tanabe1ssermon the best
because his subject is interesting and his method of delivery including
voice and diction is good.
Shiro Tokuno and another boy named Shido or something were baptized.
I don't know Shiro, but I believe he's Ted's brother.
Meals
It v/as decided that Sunday breakfasts would be eaten at home in our
block. This is a good idea because you don't have to get up as early and
can cook the meal more deliciously, although handicapped by the lack of
facilities formerly available back home. Sad case, on New Year's day when
we had to cook all our meals at home, our soup was cooked in an empty tomato
can. However, the breakfast menu isn't very large so it doesn't matter.
Afternoon at Kubo's
Around 2:30 in the afternoon I went over to Gene Kubo's house for a
get-together party. There were approximately fifteen people there, mostly
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January 24, 1943
Tacoma kids and some of the members of the cast of "Grandma Pulls the String,"
the Little Theater one-act play now being presented, I "will give a brief
description of the members of the cast, Kay Murata is the older conserva-
tive type and works at the beaty shop. Her sister Jane teaches the seventh
grade pupils and being younger is a little bit more girlish, Helen Nakagawa
is the typical coed type. Yoshie Furuta makes me wonder if all maried women
get that silly. She was married two years ago at the age of 19, and her ro-
mance sounds like story-book fiction. It seems that her present husband Jim
proposed to her after they had known each other for a month. She didn't agree
immediately, but some Isseis got to gossiping and word reached her father that
she was running around with Jim and was in trouble. Then a man who said he
was the baishakunin appeared and before Yoshie knew what was happening she
was married. She says that she has met many men since then, but none are as
satisfactory as Jim so she doesn't regret the status quo of affairs. Ey the
way, she was perfectly satisfied being a waitress in the mess hall, but last
week when she went down to the leave clearance office they literally forced
her to work there because of the labor shortage, so starting from tomorrow
she's going to start work at the Ad, Bldg. Thes-e girls are all from Marys-
ville,
Nancy Motomatsu is twelve years old and a cute kid, but I hope she
doesn't grow up to be like her sister, Georgette, At the age of sixteen
r
this girl has the gumption to ccme with Nancy to our rehearsal and criti-
cise the members of the cast as if she were the director. One night when we
practiced at Murata's she picked up their perfume bottle all of a sudden and
squirted it all over Gene, getting some in his eye. The poor boy felt miser-
able all night. After she went home everyone agreed that she was seme character,
coming to someone's house where nobody knew her and talking so much that nobody
else could get a word in edgewise. These girls are from some little town in
Oregon,
Lily Kamikawa wasn't there, but she's still in high school, and one
of the typical teen-age giris , Kingston, Washington is her home town.
January 26, 1943 5.
Gene Kubo is the Casanova type, but unlike many handsome boys he isn't
conceited but is friendly and has a nice sense bf humor. He works at the
hospital and has to get up at 6:00 a.m. I don't know how he does it because
he has plenty of night life too. He makes a charming host, but as Helen says
the girl who is unfortunate enough to fall in love with him can be made to
lead quite a miserable life. Helen thinks Keiko Yatsu, a girl from Sacramento,
is &uck on him and says Keiko gave her the dirtiest look when she innocently
applied make-up on Gene one night, Keiko would better snap out of it because
Lois Kitazumi, also from Sacramento, is more Gene's type,
Min Tsuchimochi, a boy from Tacoma, was also at Gene's* looking as
suave as ever. It seems so silly now when I think of the crush I had on him
long ago. It only lasted several days so it wasn't too serious. Tsuchi-
mochi, Mochizuki — these names amuse me. One means to hold dirt; and the
other, to pound rice. But Min is a little spoiled because he's the only
child in the family. He can go jump in the lake for all I care after the
dirty deal he gave Yoshiko Nakatsu — going steady with her and monopoliz-
ing her time for a week then suddenly walking out on her without any explan-
ation, The only reason I can see for his desertion is that he didn't want
to go to the dance with her every time. Then he goes necking with any girl
that is dumb enough to give him the slightest encouragement. However, I
should give him some credit for brains because he is a teacher.
Gene's mother is so sweet I She goes to all the trouble of preparing
the food, even making maki-zushi and graciously waits on us while we're
eating. Then she quietly sits in the corner and knits while we jitterbug
on her linoleum and offers us food from time to time, I certainly admire
a woman like that who can adapt herself to modern times and sacrifice her
time for the interests of her children. Gene's sister, Alice, is nice too.
Mr. Eubo is in the hospital, and -while we're eating Gene says, "The girls
were kidding me about it, but yesterday two girls took Dad to the lavatory
for the first time; excuse me, but he had to put his arms around both of
January 26, 1943 6.
the girls and said he felt like he was on his second honeymoon."
We didn't bother to eat dinner because everyone was so stuffed anyway
and came home around 7:30 p.m. On the invitation, Gene says "Party to begin
at 2:00 p.m. and I mean SHAH3. Not a formal but please wear shoes. P.S.
We will furnish the food." Everybody got there at 3:00 p.m., and everyone
wore shoes, and plenty of food was furnished.
Postlude
Soon after I got home, Jim came over and got me into this. I forgot
to compliment him on the fact, but I noticed that he was exceptionally well
dressed tonight. I like to see him like that sometimes, not that he isn't
always neat. He is very helpful, and I will try to make my journal as good
as his.
I took a shower and retired around 11:30.
January 25, 1943
Getting up in the Morning
Getting up in the morning is the worst of my trials and tribulations.
Last night it was so hot I couldn't sleep very well. The stove is about
six feet from my bed and when Dad puts toe much coal in the stove at night
it gets too warm. Six-thirty or 7:00 a.m. is an early hour to get up. I
like to lie in bed in the morning and meditate because that is about the only
time I have to do that. The mess gong and my parents don't give me much
time to do that though. I would like to hear a bugle blowing reveille instead
of a noisy gong. I have a good notion to get a bugle and blow it myself if
some Boy Scout doesn't beat me to it. When I finally dragged myself out of
bed, hastily dressed, washed and ran into the mess hall what did we have for
breakfast but pancakes! "Sells like pancakes" sounds like a farce here. I
never did like pancakes too well, but I just can't stand them anymore; they
choke and nauseate me. I wish I could have a nice fluffy waffle though.
Work Distractions
I couldn't accomplish very much work this morning because the boys in
January 25, 1943 7.
Woodie Ichihashi* s orchestra came around and started gabbing about jam sessions,
saxophone, clarinet, etc, Al Nitta, Helen's brother, Sam Mayeda, Tosh Maki-
shima, and George Nakao are some of the boys. They're so childish and all
they talk about is music and not the classical kind either. When I tell them
that they're childish, some of them remind me that they're older than I am,
but what difference does chronological age make? Sometimes I give them music
tests to see how much they actually know, and they show signs of some know-
ledge of elementary music. Bat, after all, I'm just a naive child myself with-
out any too much intelligence so who am I to belittle others?
Ichihashi's
I don't know how "Woodie Ichihashi rates among the Issei, but he isn't
living with his parents and doesn't speak Japanese very well. In his lectures
Dr. Ichihashi always harps on the bad manners of some Nisei. Woodie gets
along fine among the Nisei, but I wonder if his father is disciplining him
in Japanese etiquette.
Treasury
Kay Otsuji, business manager, brought the motion picture money collect-
ed for several previous nights, amounting to some $50, so I counted it and
posted it in the book. In the afternoon Perry Saito and Jiro Shimoda also
deposited their Little Theater money. Some boys act so silly the way they
handle money, crumpling up currency and throwing it on the floor and things.
Just because it isn't their ovm money and they didn't have to work hard to
earn it is no reason why they should treat it like that.
Personalities
Kay Otsuji is slim and has a nice sense of humor. He's only twenty
years old and at times acts childish, but is capable is many ways.
Perry Saito could appropriately be called the jitterbugging minister.
He is from Aberdeen, Washington, where there were no other Japanese people
within 100 miles. He's twenty-one and well versed in social affairs. Bill
Marutani and Ken Hayashi called him a hypocrite, but I wouldn't go out of
January 26, 1943 8.
my way to call him such a name myself. As far as looks and personality go,
M
he's topsj but I don't see how he can be a minister the way he throws his
money around.
Jiro Shimoda is the new business manager of the Little Theater, replac-
ing Perry Saito who is the new director of the Youth Social Activities. Mas
Yamasaki, former Youth Social Activities director, is now the planning Spec-
ialist. Jiro is short but a good dancer.
Mas Yamasaki is only 23 or 24 but is already married to the former
Lily Egusa, George's sister, from Puyallup, Washington. Some people think
he's too verbose, but he has ability in leading games, etc. First he told
me that he had lived in Washington all his life and had moved to California
just prior to evacuation. Then when I accused him of being a prevaricator
after his sister Mei had told me that they had always lived in California,
he says that he had been in Washington for a short while and had crossed the
pontoon bridge across Lake Washington. He must have been a cute little
tyke when he was 8 years old and a Cub Scout in Harry Mayeda's troop. Harry
must have been only about 16 then.
George Egusa is nearing 30 and always likes to talk about his wife whom
he married about a year ago. He's always telling everybody how fat she is,
and the way he talks you'd think she weighed at least 200 pounds. Everytime
I do something for him he says he'll dance at my wedding, so he has about five
dances to do now.
Waichi Oyanagi certainly seems to enjoy teasing me. Never a reek goes
by in which we don't have a scrap. He's another pre-ministerial student from
the College of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington. His younger brother Kenji
recently left for college and Waichi says he was surprised when his brother
wrote a letter to his mother in Japanese. I told him that was more than he
could do, and he says that's no lie^ He's only 22 years old but is engaged
and should get married soon.
Yoichi Mitsutome came around and we started talking about Yukie Fuku-
January 26, 1943 9.
zawa's engagement. Yoichi, formerly a pre-engineering student at Sacramento
Junior College, is the debonair gentleman of swing type and a big flatterer.
Yukie Fukuzawa's engagement to Pvt. Kiyoshi Yumibe -was a big surprise
to me. Yukie is from Snoqualmie, Washington, and formerly attended the
University of Washington. Kiyoshi, who is from Hood River, Oregon, is another
half-baked minister. In Pinedale he always went aroukd with a solemn air and
carried a brief case with the inscription, "Lord, forgive them for they know
not what they do." That's why some people called him JC for Jesus Christ. I
helped him write his sermon for one Sunday. He's one of the boys tr*io volun-
teered to go to Camp Savage a few months ago.
Director^1 Meeting
In the afternoon a directors' meeting was held. I had to sit in and
take notes. Perry Saito thought that the Youth Social Activities department
should have more to say about private parties. It seems that through some
misunderstanding the Mikados scheduled a dance for Saturday night, February
13, and engaged Miki Tanaka's Stardusters. This is the night that there are
supposed to be two community dances, but because one orchestra has already
been taken, it will make it necessary to hold one on Thursday and another on
Saturday with the result that the same crowd will go to both of them. The
decentralization program was also discussed. Most leaders seem rather re-
luctant to be assigned to a ward and feel that they are being demoted which
isn't the case.
Kumeo Yoshinari was the chairman for this meeting. Kum makes me laugh.
He's from Hood River, Oregon, and a law student from the University of Wash-
ington. He has a two-year-old son and is the Leadership Training Officer and
close to 30. When presiding at a meeting or making a speech, he looks very
solemn and says "inasmuch as, whereas ... " But when there's snow on the
ground he picks some up with a mischievous gleam in his eye and starts sling-
ing it at innocent girls.
January 26, 1943 10.
At the End of the Day
Before going to the Little Theater performance for Ward V, I stopped
in at 1908 because Lucy Tanaka told me to come to the jitterbug class. The
place was just full. It's funny that so many people go to these classes when
only a few are interested in taking up the finer forms of dance such as ballet,
acrobatic, tap, and modern. Al Nitta was thrilled because he said this was one
time that I would have to follow him. He thinks I boss him around at the
office.
Class Distinction
Rising home after the dramatic performance we got front-door service
onttie panel truck. I didn't say a word, but I noticed that some of the kids
talked to the driver as if they were addressing a servant or someone of in-
ferior status. In a place like this I don't think there should be any class
distinction because of occupation or education.
January 26, 1943
Our breakfast this morning consisted of two pieces of dry toast, fried
rice, corn meal mush, cocoa, and orange.
01e Man Laryngitis
Frank Hijikata, who was formerly the director of Forensics and Special
Interests, resigned after he got laryngitis and couldn't talk. But he must
get homesick for the recreation department because he comes around here often,
like he did this morning. Frank is one of the most unusual persons I,have
ever met. He's hardly 20 years old, yet is a pacifist, misogynist, anti-social,
and intellectual. He is a graduate of Sacramento Junior College, majoring
in English. I think his father used to have a Christian parish; that's why
he takes his religion so seriously. However, unlike some religious, anti-
social people, Frank doesn't make himself obnoxious but is as interesting
as anyone who takes social life in stride.