<Begin Segment 13>

MA: So you had mentioned the Niseis or Japanese Americans who had come from Seattle or from the coast.

SO: Uh-huh, in, from the internment camps? Yeah, uh-huh.

MA: How, how did these newcomers sort of fit in with the tight-knit community that was there already?

SO: I think they were pretty good. Well, let me see. In fact, a lot of them were Buddhists that came from.. and then, so eventually they started up a Buddhist church, but there were some Protestants that came, too, but most of them, I think they went into farming, and they did pretty well. Most of them farmed down at Hangman Creek, and they, they really worked hard, and they were, they did quite well, I think.

MA: Do you know why most of them went into farming? Why was that so popular?

SO: Gee, I don't have any idea... let's see. I don't think too many of 'em went into business of any kind, not that I know of. Not that I know of. Some of them might have started hotels downtown, no, they didn't own but they managed hotels. And so most of the, the barbershops and the laundries were, were here from the beginning, so I don't remember, the only ones that I remember were farmers, mostly farmers that went down to Hangman Creek and farmed.

MA: What about socially? How were, how did they fit in in more of the social...

SO: Well, let's see. I think they did okay. I think eventually, they came, they started the Buddhist church, and they, there were some that came to our Methodist church, and I think we got along all right.

MA: What did they say about their experiences being evacuated and in the camps?

SO: Oh, I guess the first-generation people had a hard time at the camps, they said, they had a real hard time. But some of the second-generation people, they met their spouses there in camp, and so for, as far as the young people, I've heard that they, some of them had a good time, you know, and they met their wives and husbands there, and they were always in groups, and I'm sure there were a lot of hard times, too, you know, like the living quarters were very hard, I heard that. And that eventually, I guess, they got used to the idea and they met some people, their young friends, and quite a few of 'em got married from that, from the camps.

MA: It seemed, like you said earlier and you were saying just now, it seems like the Isseis were sort of impacted very much.

SO: Yeah, they had a real hard, I heard, uh-huh. And you know, of course, they lived in those barn-like things, they didn't have anything. Beds, they had straw in their mattresses. So they had a very hard time. As far as the Niseis, they were right at the teenage, so they got kind of used to it, you know.

<End Segment 13> - Copyright © 2006 Densho. All Rights Reserved.