[The conductor] said…”This train goes through Canada and Canada will not allow entry by Japanese.”
When the War started, we lived in Berkeley, California, where my father was the minister of the Berkeley Free Methodist Church—a church he had founded in 1923. The congregation was initially Issei, but by 1942, the second generation was reaching early adulthood; so although the services were conducted in Japanese, the scriptures and hymns were read and sung in both languages. The Sunday School was conducted in English.
Our family of six consisted of our dad, Masamoto, 46; my mom, Kimiko, 42; and my sister and brothers: Rhoda, 17; Dwight, 15; Jonathan, 10; and myself, 8. Initially we went to Tanforan Assembly Center in May 1942 and lived in Barrack 72, Unit 1. Our barrack was newly built and was located in the North Parking Lot, about 500 yards from the Grandstand.