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TI: So going back to thinking about Thomas, Washington, what are some of your early childhood memories of Thomas?

GH: Well, I used to wake up with the sound of the dynamite, that means they were still taking out stumps and they would use the dynamite to blow up the trunks of the tree. So my parents did put in a great deal of work to establish their farm.

TI: Now, was this land owned by your family, or was it leased?

GH: Yes, although it was taken away under the alien land law.

TI: Okay, so originally they, they purchased it.

GH: They purchased it.

TI: And then in the '20s, the alien land laws were enacted and it was taken away during that period. So going back to, to the work that your parents did to clear the land, so this was like, when they bought the land, were there lots of stumps on there? Or was the old growth still there?

GH: It's the old... to me, it looked like the land was clear, but then evidently there was a lot of stumps.

TI: Okay, so they had to clear it first before they could farm it.

GH: Yeah, that's right.

TI: And growing up, what kind of chores or things that, did you have to do? Do you remember?

GH: Well, I wasn't very... [laughs] Because when my mother called my name, I was usually gone. [Laughs]

TI: Now, why was that?

GH: I used to have a bicycle ready to take off when my name was called. [Laughs] I was gone. But I did help when, I used to mow the lawn and, as a child. I worked on the farm like we all did. And, of course, we were paid twenty cents an hour, which we were able to save. But all my savings was gone when the Furuya Bank went bankrupt. [Laughs]

TI: So your parents paid you twenty cents an hour to work in the, in the...

GH: Yeah, uh-huh.

TI: Was that usual? I always thought that the kids had to work for, just because they were family.

GH: We worked, but Dad, I think he wanted to encourage us to work, and he would, many a time he would double it and put it in the bank.

TI: Oh, that's, that's interesting. And then you put it into the Furuya Bank?

GH: Furuya Bank, yeah.

TI: And then in, and then the bank went bankrupt, or shut down. Do you remember that?

GH: Yeah, I still remember I had twelve dollars. [Laughs]

TI: So how did you feel about that?

GH: Well, I was hoping that, there were rumors that they would pay so much, and I had my fingers crossed, but it never did materialize.

TI: Now, how did that impact your family? I imagine your family had lots of money...

GH: I, I don't know.

TI: So you don't recall --

GH: I don't recall.

TI: -- your parents talking about it or anything like that, or things changing after the bank closure? Tell me about your, the house that you lived in with eight kids.

GH: The house was built in 1919, and I was the first to be born in that house. Of course, as the family got larger, we had a addition in the back. But during the war, it was burnt down. The house currently still stands, but with the front porch missing.

TI: So, so the house is still there?

GH: Yes.

TI: Do you ever go back and look at it?

GH: I've looked at it, yes. It's in ill-repair.

TI: And it must be surrounded by lots of other houses now, or is it still farmland?

GH: No, it's still about the same, yes. (There's) Katsunos, Gordon Hirabayashi and our house, and then there was another house which was occupied by different families.

<End Segment 3> - Copyright © 2006 Densho. All Rights Reserved.