<Begin Segment 8>

MA: How was that then for you coming from, I guess, the city, Santa Monica and showing up in Fort Lupton. What was that transition like?

NM: On the farm, they didn't have indoor bathroom, no running water, and no electricity. So we had kerosene lamps. And we had to haul coal in and pump water and bring it in the house. And, the water was my duty to bring in and we had a bathtub built. I used to carry the bucket on my side here, that's why my, I'm not, my posture isn't straight, it's kind of curved. And that's, I think that was the start of my scoliosis. Because I was at the age when my bones were just growing yet. That's what my uncle says. [Laughs]

MA: So it was really hard work then.

NM: The farm was really hard work, yeah. Very hard.

MA: Were you going to school each day and then coming home and working on the farm?

What was your typical day?

NM: Let's see. Oh, get up in the morning, go to school, come home, and I guess we didn't go out in the field, but in the summer, we start out early in the morning and break for lunch and then go back to it. And then, during the sugar beets' harvest, then we stay out of school for two weeks. And that was in November, 'cause that's when the sugar accumulates in the beets, and that's when you have to harvest them. And sometime it's snow on the ground, but we still have to go out and work in the field.

MA: I imagine in that time, sugar beets must have been in high demand. Wasn't there like a shortage or something, during the war?

NM: Yeah, well during the war, you had these coupons where you could only get so much of sugar, or what was it, shoes. And so forth.

MA: And what school were you going to there in Fort Lupton?

NM: I went, see our farm was divided. One part was Fort Lupton, the other part was Brighton. But the house sat on the Fort Lupton side. So, I went to, well, the grade school, I went to Independence, which was on the Brighton side. In high school, I went to Fort Lupton High School.

MA: I see, so you sort of switched.

NM: Uh-huh. I guess that's the way it was. And we, of course, our social activities were mostly in Brighton, church and so forth. The only thing in Brighton was just going to high school.

MA: So in Fort Lupton was there a strong Japanese American community that you remember?

NM: I thought so. And half of them was from the West Coast.

MA: You mean people who had come during the time that you came, maybe, or maybe a little bit after?

NM: Uh-huh.

MA: So in your grade school, I guess in Independence School, how many Japanese Americans were in your class, do you remember?

NM: Let's see, there was one, just one that I know of that's a native there. And then, and then, several of them came from the West Coast. I don't know if they came from the camp or, or on a work program, or what. But, I think there was a couple of them that I know of, but very few.

MA: Were your teachers mainly Caucasian?

NM: Uh-huh. Yes.

MA: And how did they treat you and your family?

NM: I thought they, we were treated decently.

MA: Who were some of your friends, back in that time, especially in Fort Lupton? Who did you play with and socialize with?

NM: You mean names?

MA: Yeah, or just, what you did together for fun after school, or on the weekends.

NM: Well see, we were bussed in, so we had to come straight home. But I did have a couple of friends that we ran around together.

MA: You were bussed in from all over? Students from all over that area would be bussed in, went to the school?

NM: Right, uh-huh.

<End Segment 8> - Copyright © 2008 Densho. All Rights Reserved.