[NOTE: This transcript has not undergone a final proofreading and may contain
errors. It is being provided in draft form to enhance access to the video recording. As soon as possible, it will be replaced with a final, corrected transcript and will be synced to the video to provide clickable timecodes.]Anna Takada: 00:00 You can please state your name
Rulie Yamamoto: 00:01 Uh, Rulie Yamamoto, formerly Kaneko.
AT: 00:05 Okay. And, um, can you tell me a little bit about where, where you're
from, where you grew up?RY: 00:13 Oh, well, my dad had, my dad, mom had a farm in Brooks, Oregon, which
is about 10 miles from Salem. And it was fun, growing up on the farm. Let's see umAT: 00:29 What kind of farm was it?
RY: 00:34 A vegetable. He most, he grew mostly onions, celery and lettuce and
maybe yeah lettuce, but then he'd always win first prize at State Fair for his celery because they were so big. Every September he would win first prize, he was very proud.AT: 00:58 And had your parents come to the U.S.?
RY: 01:02 Oh yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They, they're the ones when we went to
camp, dad, my dad is the one that, uh, rented, uh, LaSalle Mansion. So the Japanese would have a place to live and it turned out really well. Um, and then my brother, Hiroshi is the one that ran it. And we all lived there, very happy, I guess.AT: 01:30 Do you have other siblings?
RY: 01:32 Yes. Uh, there was seven of us, three brothers and four girls.
AT: 01:39 And can you tell me the names
RY: 01:41 I'm the little, I'm the youngest, I'm the brat.
AT: 01:42 Yeah, me too.
RY: 01:46 But I had the most fun.
AT: 01:52 And so can you tell me a little bit more about, um, your hometown?
Where, where did you go to school with other Japanese Americans?RY: 02:04 Well, back home it's, yes, I went to a grade school through first
through eighth and then the war came. But there was, um, I guess my eighth grade graduation, there was four Japanese and four Caucasian. Very small, eighth grade.AT: 02:27 Wow. So it was half?
RY: 02:29 Pardon me?
AT: 02:30 It was half and half?
RY: 02:31 Yeah uhuh.
AT: 02:32 Okay. And um, growing up, did you, did you speak Japanese at home?
RY: 02:39 My mother spoke to me in Japanese and I spoke broken Japanese to her,
what we could understand each other, you know, I speak a little English and so, you know, it wasn't difficult, but this nowadays you considered it, um, you know, inaka, which is countries, country type of Japanese. Cause they don't use the words anymore. They changed the language, you know so.AT: 03:07 And where were your parents from in Japan? Were they farmers there too?
RY: 03:12 Yamaguchi ken I guess my dad had property there. So was he, he went
back in 1960 back to Japan because my mother had passed away. And he built, I guess he built himself a nice house with a American toilet cause which was nice.AT: 03:45 And so can you tell me a little bit about your life, um, before the
war broke out, how old were you and what kind of activities were you doing?RY: 03:59 Well, the normal. Well, I left with, when the war started, I was 13.
Um, went to just the regular everyday school. And then on Saturday's I think we had Japanese school for maybe half a day. And then we were taught embroidery, dance, Japanese dance and other things.AT: 04:26 Was that also a small school or a small group?
RY: 04:30 Yes, is, our community, I think when we evacuated was only a 143
Japanese. So it was a very small, small, small community.AT: 04:42 And do you remember the day that Pearl Harbor was bombed? What you
were doing or anything like that?RY: 04:51 I remember, but I don't recall, what I was doing, you know, maybe I
didn't, it didn't quite sink in my head. Um, where was Hawaii, I don't know. You know, when you're 13, you barely know your Brooks.AT: 05:13 Do you remember your, your family or older siblings talking about it
ever? Or was it justRY: 05:20 Not really, no, I don't really remember them talking about it.
AT: 05:26 And what about when, uh, Evacuation Orders went out? Do you remember?
RY: 05:34 Like I, I wasn't really into it as more or less does following, you
know, what I was told to do and gather up what I needed and I was 13 out in the country.AT: 05:50 You're, do you remember having any particular feelings about it at the time?
RY: 06:05 Just kind of going before, not in the country. You're just, you're
not. Like in a city, I think you're more grown up.AT: 06:18 And so where, where was your family ordered to go?
RY: 06:23 Well, we went to Tule Lake. Um, and then when it came to for that, yes
or no, you're going to pledge allegiance to America or Japan. Of course my father would say, of course, America. He says, I came here, you know, felt very strong. And during the night when they, the people that wanted to go back to Japan during the night, they would come and beat people up. You know, cause they know that you're a yes, yes I want to stay, you know. So it was kind of scary. So it was kind of glad to get out of there, Tule Lake was pretty bad. I know our neighbor who was a reverend, he was beaten up. It was very close.AT: 07:27 Did you, did you just find out about it the next day or did it wake
you up?RY: 07:32 No, we found out about the next day we didn't, we didn't hear anything
even though the barracks are right next to us.AT: 07:43 That must have been really scary. Um, did your family have to go to an
assembly center first?RY: 07:50 No. We didn't, went directly to Tule Lake. It wasn't a very long ride. Directly.
AT: 08:01 How did you get there?
RY: 08:03 On the train. First train ride.
AT: 08:07 The first one?
RY: 08:08 First train ride, it was kind of exciting.
AT: 08:16 Do you remember anything else about that ride?
RY: 08:19 No, I don't. Uhuh.
AT: 08:25 And how about when you first got to Tule Lake?
RY: 08:27 Well, the first thing you see is those, the MP's that were on this
high place and with guns looking at us. And that was kind of scary.AT: 08:45 Was there anything else you noticed? The first or, or first impressions?
RY: 08:52 Not really. No. No. I know that a room is it just one room with how
many people? The brothers stayed with a bunch of boys, but we all stayed in one room.AT: 09:11 So just the girls and your parents?
RY: 09:14 Yeah. I was wondering where my younger brother was, he's probably in
with us too. They went to freshman my freshman year in Tule Lake and had to walk many miles to, cause we lived at one end. The school was probably, I dunno how many blocks away, but it was far. And everyday it was a treat for me to eat donuts. So I would eat donuts coming home from school. Then I realized, ooh, gained a little weight.AT: 09:55 Who is providing the donuts?
RY: 09:58 Who is buying? I, I was with my girlfriend. We were both eating
donuts. It was funny, to gain weight, eating donuts.AT: 10:10 Even despite the walk.
RY: 10:13 Didn't help. Had to be longer walk.
AT: 10:17 And um, so you mentioned your girlfriend. Did you know, did you have
any friends who were also sent it to Tule Lake? Or did you know anyone going intoRY: 10:29 I did, but we were in different parts of Tule Lake, so I don't think I
really saw them. So you just make new friends and so.AT: 10:43 And so you shared a room with part of your family?
RY: 10:49 My parents, yeah. My parents.
AT: 10:51 And the, the other boys slept
RY: 10:53 The one boy. And then the older boy, I guess he was college age, so he
stayed with his friends. So maybe four or five boys stayed together.AT: 11:09 And uh, how long was your family in Tule Lake?
RY: 11:15 Not very long. I don't think we were there, well, it was one year, my
junior, I mean my freshman year or so, just say one year. But I made a lot of friends. I have a friend that's older than I am and we still talk on the phone. And when I hear a song I think, oh, Kiko, Kiko Fuji of Seattle. And I go, I have to call her up and say, "Kiko I thought of you."AT: 11:51 And so how, how did it work that your family left early?
RY: 11:56 Well, I, I really don't know why my brother, they wanted to just get
out of camp. So they went out Dorothy, Hiroshi. Yeah. They got a job through where? In Barrington, here. And as a house, I guess he took care of the yard and she helped in the kitch, in the house. And um, then dad told him to look for a apartment house for the Japanese so they could find someplace to live because you couldn't find, you know, they wouldn't rent to you. And that's what he did. So that's, after he fell, found the place, then we all came to Chicago everybody, so.AT: 12:42 Can you tell me more about this, this property that he got?
RY: 12:50 Oh, that's the one LaSalle Mansion on the LaSalle and Maple. And then
he bought, my brother Roy, uh, uh, Excel Foods on Clark and Division. And then as he was, well, he was at the grocery store and then my father said, oh, these Japanese people, they need Japanese vegetables. So my dad went to look at Indiana, Indiana for a little farm and he found a farm and he grew the vegetables and every week he would in his little car, not car, it was what, what a little truck. And every weekend he would bring in the foods, uh the veggies to all the Japanese stores. And so they could, we could have you know, daikon and napa and all that, he was very, very helpful that way, I guess, yeah. Then then he started making tsukemono, you know, napa so they could sell this tsukemono in the store. Good guy, my father thought everything out very thoroughly. He knew what we needed, what everybody needed and so anyway.AT: 14:16 And so that the LaSalle Mansion, was that, he bought that property?
RY: 14:26 I think he leased it.
AT: 14:26 He leased it? And um, I know you were, you were very young at the
time, but um, or so you must have been 15 by then?RY: 14:51 Uhuh
AT: 14:51 So that's where your family came to stay was there?
RY: 14:54 Yeah. We all, yeah.
AT: 14:57 Can you tell me a little bit more about the building itself?
RY: 15:00 The building itself. Well, Dorothy, my brother Hiroshi's wife, used to
cook. I went to school. My sister Lily went to school, my brother, I think my brother Harry worked and then Roy was in the Service. And Hiroshi ran the building so.AT: 15:27 Which, which schools were you going to?
RY: 15:31 I went to Wells, Wells High School. Ashland. I could hardly remem. I
used to think it was so far, but now it's not very far.AT: 15:44 And your siblings went to?
RY: 15:47 Uh, my sister Lil, she graduated one year before prior to me. And that
was, it did.AT: 15:56 And so how long was your family? Um, at the LaSalle Mansion?
RY: 16:03 Well, from there we moved to Clark Street. Uh, he, I guess he, uh,
what is it, not sold the building, but stopped being a landlord. And then we'd get a flat and lived together as a family. And that's where my niece and nephew were born. It was fun.AT: 16:30 Do you remember your first impressions of Chicago, still been a pretty
big change?RY: 16:42 I don't know. I think Lake Michigan. Fascinating. But other than that, no.
AT: 16:50 Did you go to the beach?
RY: 16:52 Yeah, we used to go to the beach quite often. Yeah. Well, not by
myself, but a bunch of friends, we used to go to the beach. And we used to go swimming.AT: 17:12 Did you have any, um, friends from camp or know any of the families
that also came to Chicago?RY: 17:20 Now what was that again?
AT: 17:21 Did you know anyone who also resettled in Chicago?
RY: 17:26 Uh, yeah, quite a few. In fact, um, uh, 10 of us got together last
Monday and we were all teenagers and sat there and talked about old times and it was a lot of fun. Everybody got along well.AT: 17:53 What were some of the things that you were talking about?
RY: 17:58 How well we looked. In the fact Nori, Nori is the one that was in the
Ting-a-Lings with me, I was with her. Um, I don't know. We just talked old times, laughed a lot. Everybody was in good humor. I've done this, we've done this, what the last probably three years, gotten together, you know. It was fun.AT: 18:34 Can you tell me more about those, those early days and in Chicago? You
know, meeting people and the kinds of things you would do?RY: 18:46 Well, meeting people. I think we just more or less hung around the
same people we knew. You know, what, we'd go to a Rib House right next to my brother's Excel's store. And a slab of ribs, actually one slab of ribs, was only like $3. And we could eat the whole thing by ourselves. Now I can't. But then I, I'm amazed like, oh my goodness, you know, it was so good. And whoever made that sauce I sure would like the recipes. I don't think anyways. And Ting-a-Lings was just around the corner to go for a hot fudge Sundays and they'd always give you a glass of water. That was so nice.AT: 19:48 So while we're on the subject of Ting-a-Lings, um, I would love to
hear, um, again, very honored to be in conversation with one of the members. But, um, can you tell me more about, um, I guess how that group formed? And maybe how you got involved, if you can recall?RY: 20:06 How that group formed?
AT: 20:18 And how many members would you say there were?
RY: 20:21 We probably had about 12 to 15. Uh, I have no idea how the group formed.
AT: 20:36 Was it girls
RY: 20:36 Well, no, excuse me, well, actually Nori and I would like to play
basketball a lot. Maybe that's how it formed. I have no idea. But the people in the group were more or less from Minidoka you know, but maybe that's how it was formed.AT: 20:59 Anything think those girls knew each other before coming into Chicago?
RY: 21:02 Probably most of them did well from camp, you know, so.
AT: 21:06 And um, was this mostly girls from Wells High or from different?
RY: 21:16 No, no, no. Probably Nori and I were the only ones from Wells. I don't
know, maybe from, Oregon and Washington?AT: 21:36 But was it mostly North Side?
RY: 21:37 Well, yeah, it was. We were kind of, we liked the North Side that's why.
AT: 21:49 And what do you, what do you think the, I mean maybe if you didn't
know it then, um, when you look back, what do you think the, the purpose or the, the motivation for creating this group would have been?RY: 22:15 I don't know. Just probably have fun as a group and getting along and
we all got along really well. Um, yeah, it's just probably companionship, friendship. Um, two of us, our own, I have two are alive. All good things have to end, you know.AT: 22:49 And you mentioned that, um, some of you played basketball, were there
any other activities that?RY: 22:56 We used to always hold dances, a lot? Well, most of the groups, the
girl groups did hold dances and so. Really now, I'm thinking did have to pay, I forgot.AT: 23:19 Do you remember where, where they were held there or who was invited?
RY: 23:24 Well, it's open to the, you know, all the other clubs there, you know,
we all participated in each other's dances, so it had to be, um, I can't think of therefore where we, Olivet, the Olivet Institute with Abe Hagiwara. He was so sweet. That's who it was. And there would always be a fight, somehow, not say who was fighting.AT: 24:02 What were some of the, some of the other groups that you remember.
Were there boys orRY: 24:12 Oh yeah, the boys had basketball teams too, but I don't remember the
name except the Seattle Huskies because we knew most of the people on the team from Oregon and Washington so.AT: 24:32 And do you remember any kind of, um. So one of the things in my own
experience in learning about resettlement was that, um, folks who are kind of, uh, discouraged from being in large groups, like in public or on the streets. You know, one of the stories I have from my grandfather that they wouldn't want walk in groups larger than, than three, basically.RY: 25:09 Really?
AT: 25:11 And I, yeah, I was just wondering if you had any experience with that
or, or what your experience was like withRY: 25:15 Well, actually we hung around Clark and Division, so it's mostly
Japanese and so we never really gave it that much thought of anything scary, you know?AT: 25:33 And did you experience any kind of discrimination when you come to Chicago?
RY: 25:43 No. At school, when I went to high school, I used to wear the wooden
shoes, clogs and the people, the kids, the girls, they have never seen any things so strange. And they say, "What are those?" But no, I, most of, most of my friends in high school were hakujins. I never hung around Japanese in high school. It was Caucasian.AT: 26:21 Did you ever experience discrimination? Um, back in Oregon?
RY: 26:27 No. No.
AT: 26:34 And then can you tell me about, um, so how long was, how long were you
in Chicago?RY: 26:43 Oh uh, from 1940, 44' 44' to 1960, I went to California. That's it.
AT: 26:58 Did you go with your family or alone?
RY: 27:05 No, I was married and so we moved to California. I love California.
AT: 27:11 Did you go to Los Angeles?
RY: 27:16 Well, a Torrance. Well, first it was Gardena and then we moved to
Torrance, which is Japanese populated, very.AT: 27:29 And um, how would you compare, uh, well, first I'll ask if you, if you
had to describe the resettlement community in Chicago, just the post war period. Um, in just a few words. How would you describe it?RY: 28:00 How would I describe it? I didn't, I, to me it didn't make, any, I
don't know, difference. I was there and we just did what we do naturally and never really gave it much thought, you know, that there was discrimination. Just you don't look for it so.AT: 28:32 And when you look at the Japanese American community of Chicago versus
say in LA or, or Torrance, how are they different or similar?RY: 28:47 They're similar, a Japanese is Japanese no matter what.
AT: 28:57 And um, do, do you have children?
RY: 29:01 Yes, I have three and three, eight grandchildren, three great grandchildren.
AT: 29:12 And if, if you could leave your family with any kind of message or, or
legacy, what would you want that to be?RY: 29:20 What I want to say to them? Hmm. Let's see, what else? Probably be
yourself, be happy. I never gave it much thought. Now that you said it to me, I'll have to think about it. Keep me up all night.AT: 30:01 You can, you can get back to me. It's a, it's a big, that's a big question.
RY: 30:12 I'm not, I don't criticize my kids. I let them find out things for
themselves. I don't comment, you know. Oh you should do this or you should do that. I let them find out for themselves.AT: 30:33 And this as we wrap up, is there anything that I might've missed or
that you'd want to add?RY: 30:42 No, this took me by surprise, so I hadn't given it any thought. And at
this moment, no.AT: 30:50 Well, you did a great job for just jumping in here and I, I appreciate
you talking to me.RY: 30:56 I'm sorry I'm not too full of information.
AT: 30:59 Thank you so much.
RY: 31:00 I take life too easy, I think.
AT: 31:03 Thank you.
