<Begin Segment 5>

LH: Well, so when did you and the kids come along?

FK: Let's see... my sister Lilly, my oldest sister, was born in '32. I think that's right. No, '33... Let's see, she's, she's five years older than I am, so that would be '34. She was born in '34. And then Francis was born three years later and, no, two years later, two years later. She was, 'cause she's three years older than I am, so she was born two years later in about '36 and I came in '39. And my youngest sister Jane was born in '41, just before we were sent to concentration camp.

LH: Okay, so you were born in '39...

FK: Right.

LH: Just two years before the war broke out.

FK: Right. Uh-huh.

LH: And you had two older sisters and then along comes a baby boy.

FK: A baby girl. [Laughs] Yeah, so I have three sisters. Yeah.

LH: Oh, okay.

FK: Yeah, so I'm the only boy and so, I'm spoiled rotten. [Laughs] I've never admitted that, but I'm sure I was. [Laughs]

LH: How was life growing up on Bainbridge Island at that time, right before the war? Do you, did your parents ever talk about what it was like that, at that time?

FK: Not really, and I don't remember that much about... because I was only about two years and almost nine months when we were taken off (the Island). So I, in fact, I don't remember very much about that, that day or that time at all. I know, talking with some of the adults on the Island about that time, that it sounded like it was a very good time, as far as, I mean, the Depression was pretty much... they were pretty much out of that and made it through. And they were at a time when, if they were growing berries, they, they were getting to a point there they were able to do that profitably. I know they had a lot of arrangements with the cannery people, as far as borrowing money to plant plants and so forth. And they had pretty much paid that back and they had started their own co-ops, as far as the berry, berry plants and berry canning and so forth. And so I think they were in a situation where (they were) doing well. I know a lot of -- there were seven big greenhouses here on the Island, seven separate ones that were pretty huge that people grew, grew plants and grew flowers and so forth. And the Nakatas had their grocery business. I think things were really looking up as far as how things were going. And they were just getting to the point where they were feeling like they were on their feet and beginning to be a little more prosperous than they were before.

LH: And as far as your family, can you describe what the farm was like before the war? What you've been told about what the farm was like?

FK: I think, it seemed like, even, even before my grandfather had the farm, it was, he was planting not so much berries as much as things like asparagus. I think he was, he was planting a lot of different things. It was more like a, a truck farm more than a berry farm at that time. And I think once strawberries were started, I think he switched to strawberries, too. But I don't know. Looking, looking at the pictures and stuff, it looked, it looked a lot like my, my, the house was probably a gathering place for a lot of social-type things, because it was just right there on the water. It was a really nice area. And I think it was pretty nice, nice situation here on the Island. Again, as I said before, the Japanese stuck together, just because they had to in a lot of cases, for support and stuff. And most of the families knew each other. But I think they were on very good terms with their Caucasian neighbors and, and the again, the kids really had a lot of good Caucasian friends as far as at school. So I, I think it was, was a nice life... a very nice life that they had. It was pretty much known that Bainbridge Island was a good place to go to and a good place to live.

<End Segment 5> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.