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MN: Now, because Okinawa was completely devastated from the war, you said you never saw a live animal until you were about four or five?

AT: Uh-huh.

MN: Can you tell us some of the first animals you saw and the reaction you had?

AT: I was shocked because I saw a cat that came, and so I, apparently I ran home and I told my mother, my family that, "There was this thing that came with the long," [indicates whiskers], "that went 'meow.'" You know, if there was any horse, I wouldn't move from that position. So they had to carry me home, and then they had to go and get whatever they were carrying. So the animal was very rare item that we were, we saw. Fish we saw a lot, but not those kind of animals.

MN: And then you said your sister went to see these donated pigs from Hawaii being unloaded off the ship?

AT: Uh-huh.

MN: Can you tell us what she told you about these donated pigs?

AT: Yeah. When Pigs from the Sea, that play was being presented here, so she went to see it, too. And then she was telling me, she said, "Yeah, I actually saw them unloading those pigs." And she said she was shocked because those were white pigs, and she said, "My gosh, American pigs are white like American people." Because we have black pigs. She said she'd never seen that color or that size. I think it wasn't that big, but she said it was much bigger than we had. So she said that was her impression, that she was just shocked to see pigs were same as the people. [Laughs]

MN: So I'm, people are donating livestock to Okinawa. Now, did everybody in the village receive pigs?

AT: I think, I think everybody who had pig sty or pigpen or whatever. 'Cause it's built in stone, covered area where you keep the pigs. Because the bigger the house, they would all, had the pig sty in the back. And I believe, because we had, and we had the pigs, so I think those people who had area to keep, I think, got the pigs. And of course, you know, some people took the pigs to breed, and that's how it spread. And then they would share that with somebody else. But I imagine the people who got it in the beginning are the ones that had the pig sty. They probably got two, maybe male and female, otherwise it would never... so I think, 'cause we did have. And, of course, if you're maybe once a year, twice a year, they would kill the pig, and whole village would share the, whatever. Okinawans, like Chinese, we ate every part of the pig. So everybody had a little bit of everything. And then they would preserve that in big vats with the salt, and you can preserve it for almost a year. So that's how they could, they would eat all year round. Of course, only, you get to eat only a special celebration, New Year, Obon, or weddings. Get maybe two pieces for each.

MN: So it sounds like it was, number one, rare to eat meat, and if you killed the livestock, it was a big deal. You had to share it with everybody.

AT: And cows, hardly ever. I think I've only seen, not in our village, but I've heard that when they kill, yeah, they had to share with our next village or whatever. And goats were more common. Yeah, goats were more common. But again, anything you kill at home, you shared with everybody.

MN: Who did the killing at your house?

AT: Nobody in our family. Somebody would come and do it. And they would do it very early in the morning so nobody would see it, especially the children. By the time we'd get up, it's all in pieces, so nobody would really see it.

MN: Now, your family had a mango tree, and probably the only mango tree around. Tell us the story.

AT: Well, this is from my grandmother. She said her older sister who had immigrated, I don't know how she got to Hawaii at that time, but when she visited, she brought mango seeds with her and then planted two mango trees in our yard. And my grandmother claims they're the only ones in that... and whatever that spread in Okinawa, she believes that's from our tree. [Laughs] I don't know how much is true. Now, Okinawan mangoes are very -- I mean, big business, and it's apparently the very, it's very expensive and very best. So in Japan, when you'd receive like, summertime is ochuugen, summer gift, it's a very precious gift. And my friend in Tokyo, she said, "Oh, yeah, they're very sweet." It's not that big, but it's very sweet and very expensive. Because she said she gave one to her friend, and her friend told her husband when she was going, business trip, to, "Make sure you bring mango home." Husband said, "They're so expensive that I couldn't bring home," or something like that. [Laughs]

<End Segment 10> - Copyright © 2010 Densho. All Rights Reserved.