Densho Digital Archive
Densho Visual History Collection
Title: Fumi Kaseguma Interview
Narrator: Fumi Kaseguma
Interviewer: Tom Ikeda
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
Date: November 6, 2007
Densho ID: denshovh-kfumi-01-0014

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TI: And so were you involved, other than being the secretary for this group, did you get involved in organizing anything or was it just pretty much...

FK: No, no. But we, we had a wonderful choir, you know. I can't sing, but we all, we all turned out for it. And we went out to the neighboring towns, we were able to go out to sing, sing for, in different churches and things like that. There were quite a few in that group.

TI: So, what was that like?

FK: It was fun. [Laughs]

TI: And so was this right away?

FK: It was pretty much.

TI: And what was the reaction of the people in these towns when you would come?

FK: Oh, they, they didn't discriminate or anything as far as I, we could see. They really appreciated us coming out there and singing.

TI: It just seems so odd that...

FK: I know.

TI: ...you'd have this group sort of, essentially surrounded by barbed wire, and then you'd go out there and sing around these groups. And I was thinking, from the perspective of these townspeople, what were they thinking? Because I'm sure they were thinking that, "Well, they must be dangerous, we have barbed wire," and here this choir comes.

FK: I know. No, they didn't, they didn't treat us differently. They were very appreciative. Well, they were mostly churches anyway, so I think that made a difference.

TI: So generally, like on a Sunday, you would just take a bus and go to a church and sing?

FK: No, not only Sundays, different times, the evenings. They'll take us in the trucks, you know, that they'd transport us, and then we'd sing and then we'd, then they'd bring us all back.

TI: That's interesting.

FK: And your mother probably knows, Mae Hara was the director, directress of that choir and she was very good.

TI: Eventually the dances started and the sports started. Was there much, at that point then, mingling between Portland and Seattle people?

FK: Oh yeah, lot of it. [Laughs]

TI: So talk about that in terms of your impressions of Seattle people versus Portland. Were there any differences?

FK: No, no differences, but it was something new, you know. Different boys or different girls, so it was fun meeting different people.

TI: So I have to share with you, so this is what my dad says. So my dad always talked about the Portland girls, and he always said the Portland girls were, were prettier than the Seattle girls. So did you notice a lot more attention from the Seattle men or boys towards the Portland girls?

FK: I don't think so. [Laughs]

TI: [Laughs] I'll have to ask him more about that.

FK: Because Seattle boys were up with the Portland area, you know, looking at the Portland girls, and Portland boys were in the Seattle area, looking at Seattle girls.

TI: So the green is always...

FK: Right.

TI: The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. So other than work and choir, what other activities do you remember in camp?

FK: Well, I worked. But I went out, see, I only stayed in camp 'til April of that next year.

TI: April '43? April of '43?

FK: Right.

<End Segment 14> - Copyright © 2007 Densho. All Rights Reserved.