Interviews
Seagulls
The seagull thing was one of, another pastime because what we do is, is you get the string and, and thread, and you tie a piece a bread. Tie it with the string and you maybe put about a dozen or two mixed in with the other bits of bread. The seagulls that come about flying, they would swallow it. And they won't regurgitate it because they haven't got the intelligence so they're like fish -- you gotta bring them in.
And uh, we opened the wings and...not, this not oil paint, now we're using, this is poster paint. So it washes off in the rain. We used to paint the hinomaru, you know, the red circles and release them, you know? So we had about 24 of them flying around the camp. And everybody would be saying "Oh my" and so they'd be clapping; they'd be... They'd raise the morale a bit.
Now the army, the military didn't like that. So they shot them. From the air. From the watchtowers they 'em all. All of them. Some ran away, maybe. So that was... so we stopped that, um, the catching of the seagulls, you know. My, my mother found out that my brother and I were doing it so she told us don't do that again, you know?
Date: June 29, 2012
Location: California, US
Interviewer: Chris Komai, John Esaki
Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum
Explore More Videos
Discharged from the U.S. Army after Pearl Harbor
(b. 1918) Founder Azumano Travel
Reaction to a 1942 speech by Mike Masaoka, Japanese American Citizen League's National Secretary
(1915 - 2011) Nisei florist who resettled in New York City after WW II. Active in Japanese American civil rights movement
Death of sister in October 1942
(1915 - 2011) Nisei florist who resettled in New York City after WW II. Active in Japanese American civil rights movement
First impression of New York City during war time
(1915 - 2011) Nisei florist who resettled in New York City after WW II. Active in Japanese American civil rights movement
Neighbors' sympathy after Pearl Harbor
(1915 - 2011) Nisei florist who resettled in New York City after WW II. Active in Japanese American civil rights movement
Father in camp but learning from history books
Giant Robot co-founder and publisher
Insights from family on Japanese American internment
(b. 1977) Musician, Producer, Artist
Fun at concentration camp
Senshin Buddhist Temple minister and co-founder of Kinnara Taiko.
The birth of a novel through a conversation with her nephew
(b. 1934) Writer
Documenting family history for future generations
(b. 1934) Writer