<Begin Segment 13>

TI: You mentioned earlier that you needed one more credit to get your, your high school. So you had to go to school? Tell me --

FK: Yeah, I went to...

TI: Tell me when the school started in Minidoka.

FK: Well, it started... gee, I can't remember. It started that fall, I'm sure. And then I just went just the one class in the morning, because I needed just one more credit... otherwise, that's why I had to... the trouble was, when I went to Japan, and I lost the one credit. Before that, which I could have made up but I didn't realize it was when I had my appendix out, I had to, I couldn't go to the gym class, and in those days, you get credit for that. And so I had, I lost that credit, and so I had to get one more credit. And since the war started, everything was sort of up in the air, and I didn't even check my credits or anything, so I had to make it up in camp.

TI: And so what was school like in that one class? What was the class you took and what was that like?

FK: They call it the core class, and really, I didn't attend... I shouldn't say this too much of a... but anyway, I got my credits, because I just had to go to that one, one semester. And then I started working in the, I worked as a secretary to the Community Activities Director, who was Abe Hagiwara, did you ever hear of Hagiwara brothers?

TI: And so what, what would your group do?

FK: They took care of all the community activities in camp.

TI: And what would those be, like dances?

FK: No, not only dances, but you know, they organized the sports for the, for the boys and girls, and they started the newspapers, I mean, all that, activities that they wanted to start, to keep us busy.

TI: So it sounds like it was a really busy group then. I mean, there were lots of things that were happening.

FK: Well, yeah, he was the director, but he, we had several people on that staff who would take care of different areas.

TI: And then you --

FK: They were older, in fact, they were older Niseis.

<End Segment 13> - Copyright © 2007 Densho. All Rights Reserved.