Bunro Sakaino Concentration Camp Diary

Transcript

March 30 (Monday)

Radio news reported that all the Japanese living in the U.S. and Japanese Americans in the Portland City region will be temporarily incarcerated in the State Stock Show ground in the north edge of the city. It was reported that construction of the facility will start.

We receive The Oregonian issued on March 28th, and it includes photos of a part of the Japan Town on the Fourth Avenue in Po [1] City. There is a photo of the front entrance of The Coast Times building with a padlock and some sort of notice still posted.

(two pages of newspaper photo section including a photo of The Coast Times building in English newspaper) [2]

[1] Portland?

[2] Memo in the margin

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It is probably a notice about the removal from the fellow publishers facing the coming evacuation, and I am assuming the headquarters has been already sold under the power of attorney. We need to be patient during a war. Reconstruction and recovery after destruction is a joy that comes with tragedy to wait and expect. War is not all about being pessimistic, worried and resentful, and neither is life. We adjust ourselves to survive the war and should be mindfully thinking about what is coming to us.

I received dental treatment this afternoon.

The news that the wife of Mr. Inosuke Takao, a farmer from Glacier, passed away reached our barracks. The leader of the barrack visited Mr. Takao at the 33rd unit. It is such a pity. This is no comparison to losing businesses. I simply feel sorry for him. A memorial service was held at the 33rd unit where Mr. Takao is staying, led by a Sutra reading by a Buddhist missionary from San Pedro in California.

It was reported that another memorial service is planned to be held in the 19th room after the service during the sermon by Missionary Nishi. The family of one of the detainees here at the camp decided to move to Denver, Colorado, which is designated as Military Area 3, before the removal order was issued in the Los Angeles region. The entire family climbed in the car, leaving home for so many years behind and took off for the destination. When they reached a bridge outside of Denver City, they had a collision accident, and the son tragically was killed.

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Multiple sad news made everyone at the service cry.

When we think of brave soldiers who sacrifice their life while their wives are sick in bed, and their children are crying with hunger, or officers who left their family behind to risk their life for the nation on the battlefield, we non-combatting civilians should live with the reality. We do not have any other choices.