Bunro Sakaino Concentration Camp Diary

Transcript

208

My speculation for the unknown future is beyond what words can express. We have not only been building tables and shelves and making this place somewhat livable but have been adjusting ourselves to live with the water and the climate. We have been furnishing the barracks with all types of facilities and gradually building friendship by visiting each other among the different barracks and getting to know each other. We all believed that this camp would be the facility throughout the wartime, and moving to another location is hard to believe. Therefore, this report turned out to be the most shocking for us.

We are expected to put all our belongings together, have them inspected and hand them over to the administration by noon on Thursday, and they will transport them to the destination. Carry on is limited to small personal items such as toothpaste and towels, and inspectors will check if we have government supplies or not. We are to return all the government supplies, and knives should be packed in luggage to be transported and are not allowed on the train. All cash should be brought to the barrack representative Mr. Horagami, and the complete list should be submitted to the administration.

We spent a night of uncertainty.

Transcript

209

Fusayoshi Takao (housekeeper), Inokichi Takao (agriculture), Yasuhiko Uesugi (hotel and insurance agency), Mororu [Gen] Sada (restaurant), Yoshimasa Tateishi (grocery), Kosaku [Hirosaku] Sasaki (agriculture), Kyoji Usuda ( Suit cleaning or tailor), Shozo Sasaki (hotel), Shunji Sakaki (Suit cleaning), Wataru Takahashi (grocery), Mankichi Sugiura (barber), Asaji Enhara [Maruhara] (Chinese restaurant), Shinich Minami (hotel), Ryuichi Iwata (hotel), Kyutaro [Hisataro] Nakamura (farm worker), Saburo Tokyu (hotel), Soichi Kiso (Japanese restaurant), Kameichi Maehara (hotel), Baiichi Masuoka (hotel), Akinori [Meitoku] Kato (agriculture), Takio Kobayashi (western style restaurant in Astoria city), Enta [Matuta] Furukawa (Po city Kyoshin Club employee), Katsuzo Kanegaoka (unemployed) from Oregon State.

It was revealed that our destination is Fort Sill in Oklahoma in the evening. There is no word to describe our astonishment, and it became clear to us that we will be under military’s watch. We are tossed around by fate and will end up going where it carries us. Hundreds of us from the homeland will be together tens of thousands of miles away in the middle of nowhere in the middle of this wartime crisis. This will be one of the biggest hardships for us, and we all need to prepare ourselves to face it.

The kiosk ordered cheap suitcases and fabric bags, and there has been a line formed in front of it. They are extending their hours to meet our needs.

I have been deeply anxious and depressed ever since I got arrested in December, and my health has been damaged by the sudden change of my life. I still have been restraining myself from directly revealing my feelings in statements or actions.

Transcript

210

I have been trying to gain something out of this detained period during the war and believe that I am spending some time in reading, meditation and self reflection as much as possible. However, facing the transfer casted upon us this time, I am having an extremely difficult time controlling my anxiety. I am lacking calmness of mind day after day for the first time. I cannot even imagine the anxiety and fury that those who left their family behind are going through. We are strictly forbidden to share our destination, rounded up and removed. Should I call it misery or cruelty with our families also facing removal. I do not know how to describe it with my pen.

The Christian church held a farewell service in the 19th barracks for the members this afternoon.