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TI: You mentioned your father worked at the Japan Association, the Japanese Association. Describe what his job was and what he did there.

MB: I'm really not sure, but they would ask questions, social questions or maybe legal questions, and he would try to answer them. (Community work.) And then for compensation they would bring, at New Year's time they would bring sake or rice, sack of rice or sugar, kind of for payment, so we had rice all year round, soy sauce all year round, and when we went to camp we had unopened barrels of soy sauce and they were still good, very strong (when we returned to Walnut Grove). The water had evaporated. That left the other parts, and nobody had shoyu, they were all from Midwest, made out of, is it made out of soybean or something like that?

TI: And so it sounds like, so part of his pay was just these, these donations or these goods that people would bring.

MB: Yeah, material compensation.

TI: And when you're running the, the association, who's his boss? I mean, who does he report to? I'm trying to think what, how that works. Is there like a home office someplace that he talks with?

MB: The home office, well, there wasn't, they knew each other in all these communities, but it wasn't like an elected office. (He was the leader). And he had an office adjoining the big auditorium -- to us it was pretty big -- and so I remember when there was, were Japanese movies and he would have my brothers clean up the place for whatever, fifty cents or some, and they were underpaid and they're not too happy. [Laughs] But at least they had some spending money.

TI: So describe one of those events. You mentioned a Japanese movie in the auditorium and your brothers doing this, can you, can you just describe to me what, like a typical Japanese movie? I mean, were these the type that were silent and someone would, would narrate, or can you just describe that?

MB: I didn't hear the first part.

TI: Well, so describing Japanese movies, I've heard some places where back then they were silent movies and they had someone...

MB: Oh, speak, speaking, yeah.

TI: Yeah, can you just describe what, how this worked?

MB: The ones I remember all had speaking parts, (the distributer narrated the story). They're not silent movies. And I forget, Japanese movies start from, is it the, when they're babies, whereas American movies start life later, I mean the movies. It's slight difference, it seems to me. I can't remember now 'cause I don't see Japanese movies.

TI: Okay. But maybe describe, how many people watched one of these movies?

MB: How many people would go, attend the movies? I don't know. I mean, at the time it seemed like a huge auditorium, but I'm sure it was not. I don't know if it would hold a hundred or... anyway, it was burned while we were gone and there was no information given as to the investigation. I guess it was not insured and there was never any monetary contribution from the insurance company. We didn't, there was no insurance on it.

TI: So that big auditorium, during the war, was burned down. Did anyone have suspicions on how that was burn downed or why it was burned down?

MB: I don't think there was much of an investigation. They all, just the whites were left there and they, I guess, didn't care. It didn't concern them. (Narr. note: The hall could have been inhabited by hoboes, and again, the fire could have been set intentionally. The Japanese residents were in camps.)

TI: Going back to that auditorium, though, like a Japanese movie, did they have, like refreshments? Like today you go to a movie, they have popcorn. For the Japanese movies did they have any kind of food or anything like that?

MB: Have any food?

TI: Yeah, during the movie.

MB: That they served?

TI: Yeah, that you can buy, like little refreshments?

MB: Oh, yeah. I think there were. Well, now that I think about it, I think we probably purchased food before (the show) someplace else and brought them to the movie theater. I mean, we ate the Chinese plums, preserved plums and ginger, mostly Chinese things, and they had to be purchased outside. And I don't think there were any popcorn place, but I know that it was pretty dirty. Things, paper, wrapping and things were left on the floor, and my brothers would sweep them up. (They were paid a small sum for sweeping).

TI: Okay, good. Now, tell me where in Walnut Grove you lived. I mean, when I, I've been there before so I kind of know the, the layout of Walnut Grove, so where did you live?

MB: Well, (where) we lived, you go under the railroad track and just, it's not even a block away, about half a block maybe (from the movie house).

TI: So this is in the Back Town?

MB: Back Town, yeah.

TI: Back Town sort of by the, what, Buddhist church, around there?

MB: Behind our house, and then the Methodist church was on the other side of the railroad track.

<End Segment 4> - Copyright © 2011 Densho. All Rights Reserved.