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AI: Well, you mentioned about the economic times, and, of course, that was in the Depression, during the '30s, and you had mentioned in an earlier conversation that the Depression really affected your family and your father, because of President Roosevelt's works projects.

HK: Yes. Well, that forced us to leave. But even during the time that we had the store and operating, having the store, we had all the foodstuff, so that we didn't starve. We always had food, we could always raid the store. But some of the goods were bought on credit from the wholesaler in, in San Francisco. You know, like shoyu and rice and miso and things like that, Japanese things, imported things. And so my father had to kind of juggle his cash, so that they wouldn't stop selling him, and supplying him. So I think he had a hard time doing that, because meanwhile, the farmers, you had to wait until the crop was in, and then, were they able to pay, so they weren't, often. So it was a hard time, and somehow he made, made it go round, and until he became ill, and then the order to move because of the, the WPA project, and it was to rebuild the highway. Highway 40 ran right in front of our store, so that I would sit in front of the store and watch the cars go by. And the cars, I knew, were going up to Tahoe, spend their weekend there, and then I could even tell the cars that were returning on Sunday night or something. But we had to move for two reasons: that my father was ill in the hospital with pleurisy, and so we, we couldn't carry on the store. And then, of course, the building was going to be torn down. So a friend, the family friend took us in, and that was nice, the fact that we had a place to stay. It was a small cabin, three rooms, and well, it was kind of crowded, but in the summer, when it was hot, you couldn't stay in there, so we were always outside. But in the winter, it was nice and cozy. They had a wood stove, and I remember sitting and doing my homework and things. But the family was rather large. They had about five kids, and, but the father was the real authority, and so he told them that we were there, and that they should share everything with us and they did. It was very nice.

AI: And that was you and your mother, and you had a younger brother.

HK: And a sister. And, and then the little child was born just the year that we were moving out, 1933, and then we moved out. She died in about 193-, I think it was 1936, I was a freshman. And so there were, actually, three kids. Four, four of us, and my parents. My father was recuperating. And, and he felt obligated, and he started to work too soon, and pretty soon he was plowing. And plowing is very hard work. You follow the horse and over rather uneven terrain. So, and then he developed this funny noise in his breathing, and my mother was very concerned, but he's a very stubborn man. And gradually, I guess, that developed into TB. But he felt well enough that would restart the store, so the, Mr. Okusu was the name, he gave him, or loaned him some advance money. And, yeah. And we started again, and he ran that for about, oh, three years, then he became too ill to, to actually carry on, although he would not admit his illness. And I'm sure that people around knew, but no one said anything. And it was a very hush-hush thing. And I know that one time a social worker came, and she was certain that somebody in the family had TB. And so she really questioned us, and, but my mother and I, we pretended that everything was okay. And if, if we had said, told her that he was ill, then he would have been sent to the hospital, and maybe he would have recovered, but I don't know. Probably it was already too late. And he had, he smoked a lot, and he loved to smoke. And smoking made him cough, and my mother was very concerned about this, that it was the smoking. But, and so he would try to stop, and then he couldn't bear not getting a puff. And so he would sneak smoking, and then there was all kinds of tension in the family. And why he, he tried to do that -- and actually, he developed emphysema, and that contributed to his final, yeah. But TB played a big part, because in 1939, when I was ready for my senior year, suddenly he said, "You know, there's a friend down in L.A., and I want to send you there." So we went down to Los Angeles, and he took me around, as I said. And then we stayed at the friend's for -- he stayed for a week, and then, and then I was to stay in L.A., they advertised for a houseboy job and I got it, and he came home, and I was left there. And I finished my senior year in L.A.

<End Segment 5> - Copyright © 2004 Densho. All Rights Reserved.