<Begin Segment 5>

TI: So the kids were a big help. You mentioned you were the number six child. Let's talk about all the kids now, there were quite a few. So can you tell me, like, who the oldest one was and just kind of go down the line?

SO: Yeah. Noboru was the oldest. So he had to... that allowed the owner to go to seventh grade. And after he became fifteen years old, then he had to drive the taxi. Now, Isamu, second oldest, had to lead the group to pick coffee. And for us, picking coffee was fun because it was just like going to a picnic where you can eat the rice ball and then all the other, whatever went with the rice, whatever Mom prepared. And after Isamu, the second oldest, came age fifteen, again, now, he was forced to drive a taxi. So he'd been driving a taxi, and now my oldest sister, Misao, had to lead us to all the different farmers to pick coffee, then it came down to Haruko, and then to Shizue. That's how we started helping Dad in money. And at the same time, when Dad could afford, then he would say, "You children been a big help, so there's going to be a three-ring circus in Hilo." And those days, people in Kona never heard of a three-ring circus, and we were the fortunate ones that father used to take us to Hilo. And when Dad took us to Hilo, now he asked... we used to go to Matano Hotel, M-A-T-A-N-O, Matano. And then there, told the man that he would like to have one room. And then when you went there and then went to the circus, came back, then he wanted to put us all to bed, and said, "Where's the bed?" Just one bed only. How many children do we have? Six? Now, you cannot, you have to rent three rooms. But said, "I can't afford three rooms, I can afford only one room. And back home, all sleep on the floor, and then took off everything, so that's what I want." [Laughs] So he demanded that they line three mattresses, we all slept on the floor. And next morning for breakfast, they said, "Ham and egg." And for us, this is the first experience eating ham and egg. Before, we never have such a breakfast. So it was really a big treat for us going to Hilo, going to the circus, and going to the hotel to sleep.

TI: And about how old were you when this happened?

SO: I was about seven years old. In those days, just to go to Hilo, with all the winding road, going to the plantation gulches, it used to take us four hours from Kona to Hilo. And me and my younger sister, we were pretty bad with motion sickness, so that was terrible. So we had to carry a lot of package, two pounds of package and be prepared to... whatever, when you had the motion sickness. So we had problems, but we still wanted to go and see Hilo, because that was Dad's biggest treat for us, going to three-ring circus.

TI: And again, so this trip was kind of a reward for the six oldest kids who had worked so hard to help him? So he wanted to kind of give them a reward by taking them to the circus.

SO: That's right. And that was, with the two older brothers back home driving the taxi business and helping him survive. So it was a really good incentive for us to help him work.

TI: Now, back in those days, what was bigger, Kona or Hilo?

SO: Seemed like Hilo was bigger because Hilo had all the government offices and county offices and everything. Kona was really a small district. And at first they didn't have a hotel, but later on, they built one hotel, Kona Inn Hotel. And Kona didn't have any water. No stream, no nothing. But still, they managed to put a water tank and then pull a pipeline, and that's how they ran Kona Inn Hotel. So Kona was really a small district, but today it's different.

TI: Yeah, going back to the circus, so you were about seven years old. Describe to me the three-ring circus. Did they have animals, or what kind of things were at the circus?

SO: Those days, they didn't have too many animals, but all the different entertainment. It was a treat for us because we never did experience, see those things in Kona. So it was really worthwhile for us.

TI: Describe your father. What kind of personality did your father have?

SO: Well, my father was... he never did spank us. All what he did was just scold us that, "You have to listen to your parents and then behave, and help Mom in the store, because she has so much work to do with all the children." So they were really nice to us.

<End Segment 5> - Copyright © 2010 Densho. All Rights Reserved.