Bunro Sakaino Concentration Camp Diary

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February 2 (Tuesday)

One of the guard soldiers came to us, being drunk. I heard he starts drinking in the morning and keeps drinking every day. This is something you can encounter only in U.S. military camps.

Newspaper reported that the Japanese government announced an ocean battle in the Solomon Island area (Ramel Island) is taking place, and they sank two battleships and three cruisers. They also damaged another battleship and another cruiser in the following morning. People in the camp were extremely joyous. Someone said this is the month of the Empire Day, and good news will come pouring in from now on. Mr. Okasaki told us that it is 1943 [Showa 18] this year. People always say even ogres or bad tea are good at age 18. This will be the first year for the Japanese military to accelerate for huge leaps. He was a soldier and is still full of fighting spirit.

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I went to the clinic in the afternoon to see Dr. Kezaburo Koyama to receive treatment for my toothache. His advice to me was to go to see a dentist to have it extracted when I return to Tokyo as there is nothing he can do here to treat decayed teeth. I would rather have it extracted here if it has to be done anyway, and he agreed to do it in the near future. I am fortunate to receive such thought-out treatment for my teeth as always. I am very grateful for Mr. Koyama’s kindness.

Some changes are being made by evacuees [1] in the Hunt Relocation Center [2] in Idaho State. Mr. Shigeru Saito from Seattle in the H Area sent a bundle of self-printed newsletters (one or two Japanese pages) to me. I am reading it every day in my free time and see want ads from outside of the center in every edition. They are from New York, Nebraska, Illinois and other regions in the east coast area, but the majority of the openings are in Idaho State due to its location. I saw some domestic worker positions posted by some coast guard captain or a state congressman in Washington D.C. The strangest of all is an opening in Idaho State posted by a family in Jerome living in a six-bedroom house. It says they are looking for two Japanese house workers, and the family will allow them to play the piano in the house and ride the two horses if interested after being hired. The rate is from 30 to 35 dollars, which is very low in the current standard,

[1] This is the term used by the author

[2] This is the term used by the author

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but they can take advantage of enemy aliens.