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MA: Before we talk about that, I'd like to ask you a little bit more about your childhood and some of your memories growing up, and your neighborhood that you lived in, your house, and some memories you have of that.

LN: Okay. As we were growing up, we had a pretty carefree life, I guess you might say, lower-middle class or whatever. So we didn't worry about anything, and we were rambunctious. There were four girls and one boy. We were, it was a fun time, really. And we were doing all kinds of things like odori, and that's when I started shamisen, too. I was eight, but I was fascinated with the instrument, with the music more than the dancing. So I said to the teacher, "Gee, I'd like to do the music part rather than the dancing." So she said, "Okay, we'll try." And I just took to it, 'cause I always liked music. So that's... in no time I was really into music. The dancing, okay, I still continued it because it's all connected, the music and dance and everything. And my sisters, too, we were all dancing. Then the war started, and everything changed. So until then, we were just very carefree, happy-go-lucky, having a lot of fun and that sort of thing. But suddenly, my dad was taken to a place called Sand Island where they interned them for the duration, I mean, for about a year.

<End Segment 3> - Copyright © 2009 Densho. All Rights Reserved.