<Begin Segment 6>

TI: Just in terms of family friends growing up, were there any family friends that kind of stood out in your mind that your, either your parents or you were close to?

WY: Well, that was, you know, that was way, way early. So I don't remember... we lived with another family that came from Shizuoka, too. But it was so long ago, I have very little memory of it except that I do remember, that's when I found out that girls and boys were sexually different, because we all took baths together. But it was very natural, normal, I guess.

TI: So describe that. When you're on the farm and you take a bath, what kind of furo or bath did you have and how large was it?

WY: Oh, we had a big tub. And underneath, we built a fire. Because you can't sit on a hot tin tub, there's a raft in there. You had to wash yourself outside of the tub so that you don't soil the water and get it dirty before everybody else goes in. And you go in. When you're kids, you have a good time scrubbing each other's back and stuff like that, and you notice the differences. But it's just so natural because it starts out from day one.

TI: And this would be with the neighbors, not just your family.

WY: Yeah.

TI: And generally, what was the order of who took the bath? Would the kids take it first or last, or when would you...

WY: I think we took it first because you had to put 'em to bed, you know, or before they... I think that's, we took it first. It seems to me that I don't remember our parents going in first.

TI: And was there like a whole, the ritual, so you would scrub yourself, go in, and this would usually be at night when it was dark?

WY: Yeah.

TI: Or was it still light?

WY: Well, we had a lantern. It wouldn't, summertime, it was light quite long, and then in the winter... you had to build a fire under the tub.

TI: Good.

WY: That's where I got the brilliant idea of the fire, of the girl reading and the bathhouse burning, that's what happened.

TI: Yeah, so I think in the opening act of And the Soul Shall Dance, it starts with the bathhouse being burned down. So you said that actually happened? With your family or with another family?

WY: With my family. And we went over to this other family to bathe. And the wife over there was acting very peculiar. Says, "Is she nuts or something?" I asked my mother that, "Kichigai (desu ka)," you know, Nagaoka-san. And she said, "No, osake nonderu kara." And that's where I got the idea to write the story. One fellow that came from that area said, "You know, I've been wondering who was this family? I think I knew who it is," and he nailed it.

TI: And so very much in your writings, they're based on real people.

WY: Real people and real incidents.

TI: And, but you, are they kind of verbatim, or do you kind of change them a little bit?

WY: Well, I have to, I had this... first of all, I learned in grammar school that you have to decide from what angle you want to tell the story from... I can't even remember the words. But the all-knowing angle or subjective "I," narrative "I," or third-person or second-person, "you." So I guess I -- because I was telling these stories -- the easiest to tell a story is to write it, you know. I said, "I think I'll just act like I'm talking to somebody."

TI: Oh, interesting. And like for instance you mentioned, in your case, the bathhouse burned down. How did that happen?

WY: Well, we burned the fuel, they always let me do the burning. And there's brush and logs and stuff, you burned it under a tank of water. The tank of water has to have a raft on it because you'll burn your feet off, you know. I guess I was... I can't see, sometimes you start getting involved in the story, you don't know if this is truth or, "Am I lying?" I think (with) the bathhouse, this is what happened. I do remember that I was not watching the thing. The bathhouse was made out of wood, you know, burned while I was reading or something, and then it was too late to (put it out). And then we went to this house to -- because the guy was also concerned. He said, "Come over to my house and take a bath." And (because) my mother was complaining, "Now we have to bathe in a bucket," blah, blah.

TI: So I'm curious, in your case, what was the reaction of your parents when the place burned down because you were reading and not paying attention?

WY: Yeah, boy, I got it. [Laughs]

TI: From both your father and mother?

WY: No, my father didn't say (much)... "Ah, urusai." He says, "It's burned already, just forget it."

TI: But it was your mother who...

WY: And then my mother said, "Well, we'll have to bathe in a bucket, everybody will see us." "Nobody passes around here," my father says. And then Mr. Nagaoka invited us over to his place.

TI: Oh, that's good.

<End Segment 6> - Copyright © 2009 Densho. All Rights Reserved.