In the rising action, life becomes more complex, more disordered for the Wakatsukis after Ko returns. Disturbed by imprisonment, he paces about the barracks, refuses to go outside, and uses spare rice or syrupy fruit to distill home-brewed wine. Because internees suspect him of informing on Japanese loyalists in order to end his imprisonment in North Dakota, they call him inu, which means both "dog" and "collaborator." Ko, an egotistical man incapable of coping with humiliation, lapses into alcoholism, self-exile, uncontrolled bouts of anger, exasperating tantrums, and wife abuse. After Ko menaces his wife, eleven-year-old Kiyo steps between them and punches his father in the face, then flees to his sister's quarters to hide.
Jeanne acknowledges that Ko's spiritual and economic emasculation reflects the powerlessness of all male internees. As she summarizes Ko's impotence: "He had no rights, no home, no control over his own life." By December, the first anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, the camp erupts in violent rioting as 2,000 malcontents roam the camp singing Japanese songs and mouthing threats at MPs. Two Japanese youths are shot to death, others injured. The new camp director lamely makes amends for the event by providing families with Christmas trees.
In February 1943, polarization continues with the forced loyalty oath that requires internees to state their allegiance to the U.S. and their willingness to serve in the armed forces. Ko abandons his self-imposed isolation as he is drawn into debates with other male internees and into intense arguments with Woody, who wants an opportunity to prove his loyalty by joining the U.S. army. A footnote attests to the logic of Woody and his peers, who form the all-Nisei 442nd Regiment, "the most decorated American unit in World War II; it also suffered the highest percentage of casualties and deaths." Such overcompensation suggests the tremendous psychic pressures that a war with Japan placed on Japanese Americans.
The multi-faceted dilemma of which blanks to check "yes" or "no" forces Ko into sobriety. Clean-shaven and again proud to head a household, he limps away to the mess hall. By 4:00 P.M., as Jeanne plays hopscotch, the men's discussion ends with Ko tackling a fleeing man who called him a collaborator. Others intervene to keep Ko from strangling his attacker. At this section's climax, the night ends with a sandstorm and the family clustered near the oil stove, where Woody, Chizu, and Mama listen to Ko and a female friend of Woody's wife sing Kimi ga yo, the Japanese national anthem, which Jeanne characterizes as a "personal credo for endurance."
