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AI: I wanted to ask you, then you mentioned that you did play with some neighborhood kids. Who were some of those neighbor kids, were they other Japanese kids?

RM: Well, Mexican farm workers, farm hand was helping my family there, and I don't know what the acreage was, but pretty big, 'cause some Japanese came from Japan, learned the farming. Well, most of 'em farmers, so they knew already, but different way of doing it here in the stateside.

AI: Well, would you tell me a little bit about that? Because you mentioned in our earlier discussion that sometimes your grandfather would help other Issei immigrating from the area.

RM: Yes, because he was, about first people left from the village, so therefore he's more or less the elder and people hear that he was doing alright so they decided to come but they didn't know where to go. So naturally, "Is it all right to come to his place?" then he says, "Sure, welcome," because he need a hand and so they worked for him to learn things and they get the room and board and when you got experience, he want to do his own, let him go. You know, he doesn't abuse his helper. So that's why he was pretty well-respected. So I had good treatment from other relatives because he was always mention that he's the grandson of Mr. Matsumoto, Wakamatsu -- not my father, but grandfather. And grandfather is like a godfather to everybody there, and especially from, people from Hiroshima. And, even though other village, neighbor village, knew my grandfather reputation.

AI: So he, it sounds like he helped many people.

RM: Many people, he did.

AI: Some were relatives and some were just --

RM: Yeah, relatives, and well, the village, at the time I went there, about five hundred people there, then half of 'em related somehow by in-laws, so forth. And so everybody knew, yes, each other.

AI: I do want to ask you a little bit more about the village, just in a little while, but before we get there I wanted to ask a little bit more about your early childhood in the Los Angeles area. And when you, you mentioned that you had played with some of the Mexican kids there.

RM: Kids, yes, neighbors.

AI: And I was wondering what language did you speak together?

RM: Well, half Spanish and half English, and I don't realize, but still, well, we were playing, so must have some kind of conversation, but they invited me and then they make pork rind, that's fried. I like those, they make a tortillas and they treated me nice because my father was -- not my father, I mean, my grandfather was nice at the time, when I was small. Later on it didn't have much, but then I had to start school, so different way, but...

AI: Well, in fact, at school, did you have also... were some of the Mexican kids going to school and other Japanese kids?

RM: Yeah, very few went there, very few, most of 'em are -- see, because the Fruitland, around there is a residential district and most of 'em Caucasian and...

AI: So mostly Caucasian kids at your school?

RM: And a few Japanese. So the Japanese was neighborhood, my, my neighborhood.

AI: Other farming families?

RM: Yeah, other farmer and some of 'em were just contractor, negotiate, such as hay ranch owner, then lease it because the Japanese were, weren't able to buy properties at the time.

AI: Right.

RM: Later on, they could buy in the name of Nisei, the second, American citizenship then they could buy. So some people did that if they had the money. But most of the people leased that.

<End Segment 5> - Copyright © 2003 Densho. All Rights Reserved.