<Begin Segment 5>

MA: So this group of friends that you were talking about, after you went to Garfield, what sorts of things did you do for fun or on the weekends?

YA: Well, you know, weekends, I had to go to Japanese school, and then I had to help in the market, in the grocery store. So we didn't go to each other's houses as much. I had one neighbor across the street who I would visit once in a while, but as a rule, we never had sleepovers. We didn't do those things. And we didn't have birthday parties like my children had. It just wasn't done, 'cause, well, for one thing, Japanese didn't, children didn't celebrate their birthdays like American children do. We didn't have the money. It was a luxury or unheard of to have birthday parties. So our celebration mainly was... the biggest thing was, of course, New Year's. And my father would close his market, his store, for at least five days. And they would go, what they call nenshi, to each other's homes to wish their friends a happy new year and they would always have food.

MA: So New Year's was a big, big deal.

YA: It was a big, big celebration.

MA: So, what did you do in your father's store when you would work there?

YA: Mainly I had to sweep the floors. Sweep the floors and wait on customers. And in those days, not too many things were packaged. We had to weigh the flour, we had to weigh the sugar, weigh the rice. Lotta times some people would just buy ten pounds of rice and we'd have to put it in a paper bag, scoop it out, weigh it, and tie it, and then... and that's how we sold sugar to... that was before packaging machines were invented.

MA: Did your whole family, your siblings, also work in the store with you?

YA: My older sister, and when my younger brothers were, became teenagers, twelve, thirteen -- no, wait a minute. Yeah, fourteen when the war started... they started driving early in those days. And they didn't have rigid tests like they do right now.

MA: Did your family have a car, a family car?

YA: We had a, a kind of, what they call a panel truck for deliveries.

MA: So in total, how many children were in your family?

YA: Four. Four

MA: Four. So you had an older sister, then you, then two younger brothers --

YA: Then two younger brothers, yes.

MA: Did your parents maintain strong ties to their families in Japan?

YA: Yes, the wrote letters. And the letters took a long time in those days. If my mother or father would write, it would take several months before we got a reply. And they were busy, so they didn't have time to write letters, too.

MA: Did they ever talk about current events in Japan and what was going on?

YA: No, no.

<End Segment 5> - Copyright © 2008 Densho. All Rights Reserved.