<Begin Segment 7>

DN: So you mentioned that you worked on some of these farms as well.

EH: Yeah, I picked strawberries. For the, first I picked strawberries for the Sakumas, and I also picked peas for 'em. And then when they would move back to Winslow, then the Okazakis came in, and they had strawberries and peas, also. 'Cause they would alternate, you know, different sections of it, because the peas would put... nodules? Is that what it is, in the soil that the strawberries needed? Yeah.

DN: Yeah, and I think the strawberries put pathogens into the soil, and after about five years they have to be cleared out.

EH: Yeah.

DN: Did these families move around from place to place a lot?

EH: Well, wherever they could get land to farm, they would do it. And you know, they started out small, and then they would expand and expand, because when the mill shut down, nobody had any money, and they just started out real small, and I can't tell you who the first ones were that started raising strawberries, but I know the, probably the biggest strawberry farmers on Bainbridge was the Kouras. And their, Meadowmeer golf course is the old Koura strawberry farm.

DN: I guess it was well-prepared for a, for a golf course, huh? [Laughs]

EH: Oh, yeah.

DN: Did, did you get any sense that, that their parents, at least, had desire to return to Japan? Or did you feel that these people were gonna be your neighbors for a long time?

EH: No, they came here to be American, to be Americans. And they all stayed. I know Jerry's mother, before the war, went back and visited for I don't know how long, in Japan. But then they had to go by boat, and I think it took us ten days on the boat when we came back home. And, but... well, Harding Akimoto -- not Harding, George Akimoto. And he was a relative, cousin of Jerry's, he had gone, they had sent him to Japan to go to school, probably in the mid-'30s, something like that. And then he came, came back, I think probably about '38 or '39. And he, he was strong.

DN: Did he have any trouble fitting back in after being in Japan?

EH: To my knowledge, no. Got right into the ballgame. [Laughs]

DN: Did you ever go in their homes?

EH: Oh, yes. Oh, well, like with the Akimotos, living close there, let's see... there was Tanio, Harding, George, Peace, and then the other girl, I can't name her. But they had a birthday party. Joe Welfare, who lived across the street, he, he and I were always invited, and if I had a -- when it was my birthday, they all came up to my place, or Mom invited 'em up. And have cake... we had, we couldn't keep ice cream because all we had then was an ice box. Cake and probably punch. Oh, and the birthday candles. You always had to have the birthday candles on.

DN: And what were their homes like?

EH: Gee... almost like everybody else's, you know, I never got into their bedrooms or, or anything, but inside, in the kitchen and living room, was just like everybody else. I think that the walls were paper on the walls, wallpaper, yeah.

DN: And did, did they have things around the house that would attract your attention? For instance, anything Japanese, particularly? Or anything that caught your curiosity?

EH: I don't remember any Japanese flags.

DN: Oh, I'm thinking more like flower arrangements, that sort of thing.

EH: Well, they always had flower arrangements. They were good at that. And she would make, Mrs. Akimoto would make, she would always have a jello. And it was unsweetened jello. And it was, it was... well, it had a different taste, so I don't know whether it was imported from Japan or what. I don't know. But I ate it. I'm still here. [Laughs]

DN: [Laughs] How about, how about other foods? Did they eat traditional Japanese foods as well? Tofu?

EH: Well, I didn't really know about tofu, and, well, they ate a lot of rice, and I think going to school, they carried sack lunches just like the rest of us. What they had on their bread, I have no idea. Probably strawberry jam. [Laughs]

<End Segment 7> - Copyright © 2004 Densho. All Rights Reserved.