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BK: Were there a lot of other Japanese American families there, at the time?

MH: There was one, one gentleman that ran an apartment, and he didn't get married 'til quite late, and his wife had brought a daughter. And then, more down where the roundhouse was, where the railroad was, there was another family. And there was also a family that was there for a while, but they moved to Seattle -- down by the railroad company. And then, across the river there was one Japanese family that had a farm. But other than that, that's all there was.

BK: So, in terms of your social life, growing up in Wenatchee, did you have a lot of the Japanese friends as your close friends?

MH: No, not really, because if I wanted to see them, my brothers would, or my dad would have to take us there. So it would be only on weekends that we would be able to go. I couldn't just get up and go, so most of the entertainment and playing we did was with the family.

BK: With your brothers and your sister.

MH: Uh-huh.

[Interruption]

MH: And she, of course, came to Seattle to live. My folks had sent her to Seattle, anyway, early, so she could go to Japanese school, and she lived with a family in South Park. Her future husband was living with us, so he came over and got married.

BK: When you talk about the other Japanese Americans -- and there weren't very many other families -- were there any kinds of family celebrations, or as a family did you do very much?

MH: Well, we did a lot of fishing, and what Japanese families were there, we would go places with them, of course. And then, on New Year's the men that worked at the railroad, they would always have a party. And of course, the one, two, let's see, four women, would make the Japanese food because there weren't any women in the railroad company. So, they would make food, and we used to go to parties there, on New Year's. We would do all those crazy things that kids do. [Laughs]

BK: Can you describe some of those crazy things?

MH: My sister always -- she never told me 'til I'd grown up -- she said, "Oh, you used to make me so mad!" And I'd say, "Why?" And she said, "Oh, the guys at the railroad would say, 'Oh, Mary, dance.'" She said, "You'd get up and dance, and then they'd give you money." And her being twelve years older, she was too bashful, and I guess I wasn't that way, or if they ask me to sing, I'd sing something in American, and they'd give me money. So she said, "You'd always come home with money!" That was always a joke between us. And she was quiet.

BK: I see. What would the adults be doing then? Was there just a lot of, besides eating, all the...

MH: Oh, karaoke, I think. They call it that now, but everybody would sing, and my mother used to like to sing, so she would sing Japanese songs. And that's how they entertained themselves, because there were no movies or television or...

BK: Right.

MH: But we used to stay and visit, with all the people there.

BK: How did they get the Japanese food at that time, like the sake...

MH: There used to be a company named Furuya that used to come from Seattle. And I don't remember how often they came, but mother would order whatever she needed. And that's how we got what Japanese food we had.

<End Segment 5> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.