The following interview was recorded on July 26, 2025 in Tucson. The interviewer is Arlene Watkins.

Miyoko Marian Matsunaga was born in 1926 in Kahuku in the Ko’olauloa district of O’ahu. Locals called it “Marconi” because it was the site of the Marconi Wireless Station built in 1913 by the British Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company. The U.S. Navy seized it in 1919 and ran it until the 1990s. Marian’s father, an immigrant from Kumamoto, worked for RCA. Her mother, also from Kumamoto, was a picture bride. When the war started, Marian’s father burned the family’s Japanese books and papers, a common practice to avoid accusations of disloyalty. Marian and her seven siblings walked two miles to the public school and attended Japanese language school at night. When WWII started, all Japanese language schools were shuttered. The public school closed two days a week, sending students to work in the plantations. This was organized in coordination with the military government or the plantation companies under martial law and considered part of the civilian war effort. Marian does not recall major disruptions to their life during the war. They lived in a remote area with no electricity, and her parents and neighbors did not talk about the war. She married a man who fought in the 442nd Regimental Combat Unit in France and Italy; he did not discuss his experience, either. After the war, the couple moved to Guam for work and then to LA. They retired in Washington state to fish. Marian’s father eventually returned to Japan and her mother stayed in Hawaii. Though most immigrants remained in the U.S., a notable minority returned. Their experiences reflect the difficult and divided loyalties many Japanese Americans faced during and after the war.