Weedflower

In February, new developments send the camp into an uproar. All adults will soon be asked to fill out a questionnaire to prepare for a draft of Nikkei men. The questionnaire will ask two main questions: whether one is willing to serve in the US military, and whether one will swear complete allegiance to the US and forswear allegiance to Japan. Many people feel the questions are a trick; if they say yes, will they ever be given rights? Will saying yes make the government think one was once loyal to Japan? Sumiko is amazed that the government would place all the Japanese Americans in camps but then let them join the army just because of their answers on a questionnaire. Why couldn’t they have used the questions to determine people’s loyalty before herding them into the camps? Those who answer no to both questions will be sent to a camp in California, essentially a segregation center. Furthermore, the government is calling for an all-Nikkei combat team; Bull signs up right away, and Ichiro soon follows suit. Sumiko worries about her cousins leaving and watches the moon at night, thinking it looks like a moth and wondering if it could be her mother watching her.