Interviews
Life on board the migrant ship
I remember a lot about the ship. There was a sports day, a school performance, something like a school, and we all sang songs together. I was only five years old. I didn't go to elementary school yet, so all I remember is kindergarten-like things, singing and running around together.
Also, the food on the ship was so, how should I put it, the portions were so large that we couldn't finish it all. The diet in Japan in 1953 was very poor, but on the ship we were served delicacies three times a day. My mother was pregnant and got seasick so she couldn't eat much, but I remember the food on the ship being very nutritious.
When the ship arrived in Los Angeles, it was right after the war, so no Japanese were allowed to disembark. However, I was only five years old, so I clung to the crew and got off the ship, and I was the only one to set foot on American, how should I put it, land. I remember being told off a lot, but I remember that too.
Date: September 19, 2019
Location: California, US
Interviewer: Yoko Nishimura
Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum
