<Begin Segment 11>

TI: Earlier you were talking about some of the events, like picnics. And today, the White River Buddhist Temple has a large Obon festival. Did they have that back in those days?

MY: Yeah.

TI: Describe what that was like. Was it pretty much like it is today, or...

MY: No, it was terrible. [Laughs] There was no lawn or anything, and the weeds just grew wild, you know. And then for Obon, they tried to mow it down, or get a scythe and just trim it down so that people could walk through it. And, of course, I hated garter snakes, and there were garter snakes all over, so I wouldn't go.

TI: Oh, because during the dance, there would still be little snakes all over.

MY: Yeah, yeah. And my mother would get mad and say, "They don't bother you. They run away from you when you go." And I said, "Yeah, but I don't care." I said, "I don't want to look at those snakes," you know. [Laughs]

TI: But how about in terms of the size of the group? Is it about the same back then as it is today, or how would you compare?

MY: Well, probably, I think the crowd was bigger, but the participation in the dances were not as big because of the, I don't know whether it was instruction or the, there weren't enough people really interested that would participate.

TI: So, you mean, so back then, there wasn't as many dancers but more people, but now there are more dancers?

MY: Oh, yeah, there are so many more dancers now.

TI: And in terms of, like, food and things, was that all part of the festival?

MY: Yeah, well, the mothers were busy making bento and making a couple extra makizushi, 'cause they have friends or something. That was always kind of a fun time for me. I don't know, some people, they resent it all, but I says, "You know, for us kids," I says, "I think that was the most fun time." You get acquainted with different people and then judo tournaments all the time, and shibais in Seattle. I don't know. Of course, like Lotus, they were quite active in shibai, they did things like that ever since I could remember.

TI: And so how common was it for you to come to Seattle back before the war?

MY: Well, it was an all-day trip. We'd have to get up early in the morning and do what we had to do, and then help Mom with the lunches and things. And, of course, Dad was, would invite all these people from the city and Tacoma. They always had extra company for the Obon or shibai.

TI: And so how would everyone get from Thomas to Seattle?

MY: Well, most of 'em had the Model T's or old cars. I can remember when my brother, my third oldest brother was kind of like a handyman, mechanics, and I don't remember, but he'd say, "All you need to fix a Ford," is some kind of wrench or something. [Laughs] And I can remember him telling a friend that the "doggone car won't go up the hill," and he said, "Put it in reverse." It has more power or more traction or something. So I can remember guys driving the car backwards up the hill. And then most of the farmers would have cars and trucks, so they would put the little tiny kids that couldn't walk, they get to ride up the hill. But everybody else had to get off and push the truck up the hill and then, "All right, hurry up and get on," you know. And they'd all jump on and then go down the bottom of the hill and make it coast as far as it would go. And then we had to get off again and push it up the other hill. So it was a long trip to go out to the beach and have a good time.

TI: Especially if you had to go across lots of hills. [Laughs]

MY: Yeah. And there were quite a few hills from, like, where we were, at Thomas. You had to go over Star Lake and Des Moines and down to the beach.

TI: Oh, that's a good story.

MY: Oh, man, that was a lot of work. [Laughs]

<End Segment 11> - Copyright (c) 2009 Densho. All Rights Reserved.