<Begin Segment 10>

SP: And how long were you at Minidoka?

KA: Three and a half years. We were about the last ones to come out because we had no place to go. You know, my parents had no house, we had nowhere to go. And so I know how it feels to be homeless.

TI: What happened to the Beaverton place?

KA: No, we never went back because the lease would have been up by then.

TI: Oh, so the Bakers just took care of it for that harvest season.

KA: No, for three years, until the lease went out. And they took ninety percent after the first year, and they sent my parents ten percent. Isn't that a blessing?

SP: Very generous.

KA: It was really the work of God. And so my parents, since they lived in Washington most of their, you know, life here in Selleck, they decided to come back to Washington, thinking that Seattle was a bigger place for job opportunities. And that's the reason they decided to come to Seattle rather than to go back to Oregon. Because we were in Oregon just for a couple years, whereas they were accustomed to Washington. And I took a job immediately, thinking I'd have to help my parents. Because my father, the only kind of job he would find would be washing dishes, and eventually gardening. But I was able to get a job at the Kenny Presbyterian retirement home in West Seattle. And then in the meantime, my oldest brother was hospitalized. He was a veteran, a soldier, He was drafted in camp, and he became ill. He contracted tuberculosis and was hospitalized for three years. And so with his disability, and my salary, I received eighty dollars a month plus room and board, we would help the family out. And then we stayed at the Japanese Methodist Church when we first came out.

SP: They had set up a temporary hostel, right?

KA: Yes, where a lot of people were staying there until they were able to find a place to live. And finally, the Renton Highlands opened up. It was very difficult to find places to live at that time. And so my parents moved out there, and we stayed there 'til, I think they moved in 1955 to Seattle. In the meantime, my father was commuting by bus to all his jobs. And he worked for, as a gardener for, I think it was Imanishis, Takeuchis. And then he got a job with Kubota Gardens, and then he also got a job at the Seattle University -- or Seattle Prep, the Catholic school, washing dishes or something. And they were all intermittent jobs. You know, if the weather was nice, he'd have a job. But washing dishes... Seattle Prep, they used to have real good food. [Laughs] And he'd carry quart jars and bring home the leftovers. And so the children were able to, they said it was such a treat to have Papa come home with the leftover food.

TI: So this would be like leftover lunch food from the school, the high school there at Seattle Prep?

KA: Yes, uh-huh.

SP: In the cafeteria.

KA: Uh-huh, Seattle Prep. It's amazing, especially holidays, you know, they'd have ham or turkey or something. But my parents always had a garden. My mother was a real good gardener, and so we never lacked for food. And I think some of the Japanese merchants used to come to Renton Highlands to take orders for Japanese food: Furuya, Asia, and Tsutakawa or something. So we never suffered with hunger. My mother was a good cook, and she used to bake a lot, pies and cinnamon rolls, anpan. [Laughs] It's amazing. My kids still remember that, too. On my eightieth birthday, they surprised me with two albums of our life, my life, and they remember, they each wrote a letter to me, and they recall all these things that we experienced with my parents, too. And it brought memories, you know, of my childhood and growing up, and coming out of camp and working.

<End Segment 10> - Copyright © 2008 Densho. All Rights Reserved.