S. government being distrusted and investigated as a suspicious spy or a supporter for any furtive financial or other assistance on Japan's military invasion. .
However, is the father a real Japanese spy employed by the Emperor based on these pieces of evidence? According to the father's appearance and background information in the novel, it seems that he has a close relationship with the Emperor, but there are still numerous Japanese-Americans like him not on west coast who are not caught by the U.S. government. It is unconvinced to just judge these kinds of people to be spies. Secondly, in the yard, the mother burns not only letters, but also some souvenirs and housewares bought from home country years ago, such as silk kimonos, Japanese opera, the Imari dishes and so forth. People use to send greetings and cares through letters to their friends or relatives when they are far away from home just as the father does to their children in the camp. Also, these are ordinary things owned by a Japanese family, and in our common sense, people keep stuffs taken from hometown just for the memory or because of their cultural blessings and lifestyles. On the one hand, destroying letters from the Japan might indicate that the family has some hidden information or secret on them; otherwise, there is no need to do so, and they could even show the FBI these letters to prove that the father is innocent. Meanwhile she asks her children to alter the way they used to be. For instance, she makes peanut and jelly sandwiches for their lunch instead of rice balls, and asks them to gets rid of being a Japanese ancestry by stating they are Chinese. These actions are doubtful, and to some extent she might feel guilty because intuitively humans tend to wipe out the evidence after doing something disreputable or illegal. On the other hand, if the father has some secrets on letters, it does not make sense that the mother tosses dishes and silk kimonos into the flames as well.
