<Begin Segment 6>

[Ed. note: This transcript has been edited by the narrator]

TI: And so, when you did have time to play, what are some things you did at that age in terms of play? Frank, I may ask you not to touch your microphone, too.

FT: Oh, okay. Well, Seattle is very fortunate (in that) it has a long twilight. So we spent a lot of time, after Tip School and (before it got darker), we played quite a bit outside.

TI: And so what would be some games that you would play?

FT: Oh, we played all the games. Like jintori and cops and robbers, and Kick the Can.

TI: So, jintori, what's jintori?

FT: Well, jintori, (translates into "capture the base"), telephone poles, this is your "jin" and this is ours, base. And we'd divide up and we'd try to invade the other. Or actually, if you could touch it, the pole, before their defenders touched us. If they touched us, you're out of the game, you know. So, it's just one of those things.

TI: And generally, how many kids would be playing jintori at the same time?

FT: (...) All the neighborhood kids would (...) gather, after Tip School and (before long, someone will propose we play a game).

TI: And so about how many? Would it be like five, ten?

FT: Yeah, we'd have a dozen, I guess.

TI: And would they all be Japanese Americans?

FT: Yeah, all the (kids) in the neighborhood, (that were) Japanese Americans (...). You don't see that so much now, neighborhood kids playing together. And a lot of the time, when we'd leave Tip School, on the way home, we all get together and walk (home together). And (we'd) stop at a street corner and play (...) until our mothers called us for dinner.

TI: So it sounds like a pretty rich childhood. Just the friendships.

FT: (...) During the summer we'd all go (...) swimming at Mount Baker. That was our favorite swimming hole on the lake (beach). And we'd walk, mostly. Mother would provide us with a sandwich (of) peanut butter and jelly or something like that. And (...) all of us, about three or four of us, usually, from the neighborhood, we (...) would walk all the way to Mount Baker, swim all day and walk back (home).

TI: Because it's, from where you lived to Mount Baker, you're talking several miles of walking.

FT: Oh, we'd walk. On the way home, we'd pick hazelnuts and (fruits from trees).

TI: So I'm curious, when you go to a place like Mount Baker to go swimming, who taught you how to swim? Did you guys get lessons or did you just learn?

FT: No, we just learned by jumping in and paddling. No, there was no instructions or anything like that.

TI: And so did the lifeguards kinda helped you with strokes or anything like that, or you just kinda learned on your own?

FT: We just learned on our own.

TI: Wow, that's interesting.

FT: Then we'd walk home.

TI: 'Cause I read someplace where you actually swam across Lake Washington at one point. And so Lake Washington across is about a mile across with a really deep, deep lake. So you have to be a really strong swimmer to do that.

FT: Yeah, well, you can always lie on your back and (rest along the way). Mount Baker, (...) (had a raft) about half a mile away, (was a) boathouse. We'd swim from (...) the raft (...) to the boathouse and back. (...) We used to do that quite often, so see how many times you could do it. And swim to the boathouse and back again and so on.

TI: So when you decided to swim across the lake, did you do it with others, too, at the same time?

FT: Was there somebody else? I think there was about two or three of us. And we swam from Leschi to at that time (to Medina and Mercer Island). And we'd (swim the ferry routes).

TI: Now was that a common thing? For people to swim across the lake? I haven't heard of anyone doing this before.

FT: No, I don't think it was common or anything. We'd do it on a dare or something.

TI: Now, if your mother had known that you were swimming across the lake, would she be pretty upset at you?

FT: I think they would have been, yeah.

TI: 'Cause again, it's a long swim in the middle of the lake. And it's not like if you got tired halfway, there wasn't really anything you could do.

FT: You get tired, we just lie on our back and just sort of paddle, just float there for a while. We used to go swimming on the first of April.

TI: And so if you know Seattle weather, first of April would be really cold.

FT: Yeah, (...) we'd say, "Hey, it's the first of April. Let's go swimming."

TI: That's pretty amazing.

<End Segment 6> - Copyright © 2008 Densho. All Rights Reserved.