Partial Transcript: When World War Two ended, Ray Kuniteru Mayeda was a student at Central YMCA College in Chicago, IL. He also worked at Mason and Company as a bookkeeper. Ray lived in an apartment with his friend Woody Douglas near the University of Chicago. After Chicago, Ray attended the University of Minnesota full time he received his draft notice.

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Keywords: draft; employment; higher education; Japanese Americans; Nisei

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Partial Transcript: Ray attended the University of Minnesota for a year, and his finances were running low. Therefore, he decided to volunteer for two years and enlisted when he was in Chicago. Ray went to basic training at Camp Lee, Virginia, and joined an integrated unit. At the end of basic training, there were four Niseis in the company. The three other Niseis went overseas to Korea. However, Ray went to language school because he was bilingual. Ray went on a train to Presidio Monterey. Ray made friends with everyone and did not experience discrimination.

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Keywords: discrimination; friendship; Japanese American soldiers; Japanese Americans; Military Intelligence Service; Military Intelligence Service Language School; Nisei; post-war

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Partial Transcript: In 1947, Ray went to Military Intelligence Service Language School for six months. There were two classes, the nine-month class, and the six-month class. The six-month class was for students who knew a little more Japanese. Ray studied Japanese maps, sosho (writing), Japanese history, Japanese geography, kanji, reading, and Japanese language. He reviewed all the time, and there were exams every weekend.

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Keywords: Japanese American soldiers; Military Intelligence Service; Nisei; Nisei soldiers

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Partial Transcript: At the Military Intelligence Service Language School, the objective was to learn how to read, write and speak. Ray shared how he learned the Japanese language. He grew up in Coronado, CA. When Ray was six years old, his father saved enough money to start a farm in Bonita. The farm became prosperous, and Ray's father leased 40 acres of land in Otay, CA. Ray's father harvested tomatoes and celery. When the Depression hit, the family lost money. In November 1935, Ray's mother passed away. Ray had two sisters and two brothers. Ray's two sisters and younger brother moved to Kagoshima, Japan. In 1936, Ray's father quit farming, and Ray and his father went to Kagoshima, Japan. Ray's older brother stayed in Otay.

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Keywords: family; farming; Issei; Issei parents; Military Intelligence Service; Military Intelligence Service Language School; Nisei soldiers; occupation; siblings

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Partial Transcript: Ray was in Japan when he was 13 or 14 years old from 1936 to 1939. At school, he was placed in the fifth grade. Ray was the oldest and tallest in his class. Ray's father hired a tutor to teach him, and he studied hard. Ray passed the exam and skipped the sixth grade. He studied in middle school for one year and a half and then wanted to return to the United States. Ray returned to the United States alone with the permission of his father. (interview paused at 14 minutes, 8 seconds. Resumes at 14 minutes, 15 seconds). Ray recalls not wanting to go to Japan because he did not speak the language and did not know what Japan was like. In Kagoshima the dialect and food were different.

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Keywords: Americans of Japanese Ancestry; education; Japanese Americans; Nisei

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Partial Transcript: Ray recalls honoring the Japanese Emperor at school. It was required to take a course - shushin to honor and respect the Emperor. Ray felt he was different from his peers because he did not speak Japanese much. Ray's father helped him get a tutor to help him learn Japanese. Ray took the exam and passed. Ray skipped the sixth grade and went to middle school.

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Keywords: Americans of Japanese Ancestry; cultural heritage; education; Nisei

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Partial Transcript: In Japan, Ray lived far away from Kajiki and did not hear much about the Japanese military. Ray's classmates were kind of poor. Ray said that compared to his classmates, they were well off. Ray's father and grandfather had a rice field and leased the land to Japanese farmers. When the rice was harvested, the farmers shared some of the rice. Ray was in Japan for about a year and did not participate in school trips. In Fukuoka, Ray took a ferry to Honshu. Ray recalls being questioned by the Japanese FBI because he stood out. Ray was wearing a suit and told the Japanese FBI he was going home to America.

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Keywords: farming; Issei parents; Japanese Americans; Nisei; travel

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Partial Transcript: Ray came back in the summer of 1939. In Japan, he did not have conversations about the Japanese military with friends or family when he was there. After completing the Military Intelligence Language School, Ray went to the occupation in Japan and landed in Yokohama. Ray went to Camp Zama and then to Allied Translator and Interpreter Section (ATIS). Ray waited for a month at ATIS to get his permanent assignment before going to Maizuru. Maizuru was a repatriation center for Japanese prisoners of war (POWs) returning from the Soviet Union.

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Keywords: Allied Translator and Interpreter Section; Japanese Americans; Military Intelligence Service; Military Intelligence Service Language School; Nisei; Prisoners of War

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Partial Transcript: The Russians were holding the Japanese POWs after taking them from Manchuria. At Maizuru, Ray had two jobs. One was to interpret for the medical officers when he got on the repatriation ship. The medical officer examined the troops and asked them questions in English, and Ray would interpret for him. There were several hundred POWs in poor conditions. The POWs looked malnutrition and did not have nice clothing. Another job Ray had was translating documents the POWs wrote during their time in the Soviet Union from Japanese to English.

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Keywords: Allied Translator and Interpreter Section; Japanese American soldiers; Military Intelligence Service; Nisei; occupation; Prisoners of War

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Partial Transcript: In between ships docking, Ray translated documents from the POWs. If a ship came in, Ray went with the doctor on board the ship to interpret. There were a couple of hundred Niseis at Maizuru. There were ten GIs in Ray's group who translated documents written by the POWs. The remaining detachment would interrogate the POWs when they landed about what happened in the Soviet Union. After the POWs were taken care of, they received new clothing and other stuff. When the doctor examined the POWs, he would ask health questions to see if they had tuberculosis (TB).

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Keywords: Allied Translator and Interpreter Section; Japanese American soldiers; Military Intelligence Service; Nisei; occupation; Prisoners of War

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Partial Transcript: After the POWs get off the boat, they are deloused with DDT and given new clothing. Then they had a meal before being interrogated. The POWs were cooperative and provided a lot of information. Ray recalls translating the maps the POWs written and drew in Japanese. Some of the documents were about life and what the Soviet soldiers were doing in that area.

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Keywords: Allied Translator and Interpreter Section; Japanese American soldiers; Military Intelligence Service; occupation

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Partial Transcript: The workload was not very heavy. The Lieutenant, Ray's boss, supervised the repatriation and gave Ray documents to translate if needed. Ray lived in a barrack with two or three hundred other GIs. The barrack used to be a college for Japanese locals. Ray worked eight hours a day, and in his free time, he explored Maizuru. Ray also made friends and visited their families. Ray gave them what he could from the Post exchange (PX).

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Keywords: Allied Translator and Interpreter Section; Military Intelligence Service; Nisei; occupation

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Partial Transcript: Sometimes Ray watched movies or traveled on the weekends. In Maizuru, there was a famous spot called Amanohashidate. Amanohashidate was called Nippon Sankei No Ichi, the one of three the most scenic areas in Japan. Ray took pictures and enjoyed the view. When Ray traveled, he took the train. He remembers eating in the mess hall in Maizuru, and there was an earthquake. Some guys in Ray's detachment went to help the locals.

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Keywords: Americans of Japanese Ancestry; Military Intelligence Service; Nisei; occupation; social activities

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Partial Transcript: When Ray was assigned to Allied Translator and Interpreter Section (ATIS) in Tokyo, there was a flood In Kansai in 1947. Ray helped deliver medical supplies and food to the locals. The floodwater came up to the homes, and Ray's detachment came to rescue them in boats. Ray said the flood was similar to Katrina in New Orleans. The locals treated Ray well as an occupying soldier. He remembers a time in Yokohama getting on the train and seeing the hungry children. Ray gave them what he could.

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Keywords: Allied Translator and Interpreter Section; Americans of Japanese Ancestry; candy; Japanese American soldiers; Nisei; Nisei soldiers; occupation

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Partial Transcript: Ray got along with all the locals. Ray had relatives living in Tokyo, and he would visit them often. Ray's cousin had a photo studio in Tokyo, and Ray would Bring him supplies from the PX. When Ray's mother passed away, his sisters and younger brother moved to Japan. When His father returned to the United States, he remarried, and his two sisters and younger brother lived with his stepmother. Ray's father started working at Coronado, and Ray's older brother joined him.

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Keywords: Allied Translator and Interpreter Section; Japanese American soldiers; Nisei soldiers; occupation; siblings

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Partial Transcript: Ray recalls his uncle in Tokyo talking about the bombing. The building Ray's uncle, Masashi Shimotsusa, was living in was not bombed, but the city of Tokyo was bombed. The building where his photo studio was not bombed either. His uncle was very fortunate. Ray's uncle was a famous photographer. Ray's father and his uncle went to San Diego for a while, and then this uncle returned to Japan. Ray's uncle took photos of movie stars and generals. Also, he took pictures of Admiral Togo Gensui, which became a stamp. Ray's uncle studied in Paris and New York and won international prizes for his photos. Ray's uncle's wife was his father's sister, Toki Mayeda Shimotsusa.

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Keywords: Japanese American soldiers; Nisei soldiers; occupation; photographs; World War Two

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Partial Transcript: Ray visited his relatives in Tokyo, and his uncle had his famous photographs hanging on his walls at home. Ray would bring him cigarettes. Cigarettes were a valuable product on the Black Market. After Maizuru, Ray went to Mie-ken on a four-month temporary duty assignment (TDY). Ray's duty was to surveillance the black market activities on staple foods - rice, fish, and vegetables. Ray also interpreted for Lieutenant James Warwick. The problem in the black market was severe. The locals in Mie-ken would hide rice underneath their clothing and sell the rice and fish in the city for a high price. Ray assisted the Japanese police with their surveillance of the black market.

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Keywords: family; Japanese American soldiers; Nisei soldiers; occupation

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Partial Transcript: Ray's role in Mie-ken was to interpret for the Lieutenant who worked for the Japanese police. Ray did not arrest anyone in the black market. When the Mie-ken locals smuggled the rice, they stored it in a bag and tied it around their stomachs. Therefore, these people looked pregnant. Ray was an interpreter and translated when the Japanese police spoke to the locals. He was the backup for the Japanese police.

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Keywords: Allied Translator and Interpreter Section; Hakujin; Japanese American soldiers; military occupation; Nisei soldiers

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