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TI: Now, when I think of Fremont, I think of, geographically you have the locks right there, the canal, I mean the canal, yeah. And so were there, did you guys play down there, or what kind of things did you do?

MO: No, but the boys often went -- I was never allowed off the block -- but the boys went down that way, and we had, one of my classmates, Walter Sofer, died down there. They had, what do you call, those logs all in the water and I guess the boys used to walk on the logs and jump and things, and Walter got, fell in between the logs.

TI: Oh, and the logs kind of then, so he couldn't get up.

MO: Uh-huh. So he was in my class, so I remember that.

TI: So he drowned under the logs. So it was dangerous down there.

MO: Yeah, that was, it was dangerous. Of course, as youngsters you just think it's fun to play on the logs.

TI: And you mentioned that B.F. Day, so B.F. Day School is still there.

MO: Yeah, it's there.

TI: It's one of the historic elementary schools. You mentioned you were the only Japanese?

MO: After my brother, my brother was five and seven years older than I, so I think I must've been the only Japanese in that school at the time I was going, that I can remember.

TI: And what other races besides, then, you, the Japanese? Were the rest all white, or were there different races?

MO: Mostly white and, like I say, my girlfriend was Swedish, and being close to Fremont and Ballard, it was kind of Scandinavian population probably.

<End Segment 5> - Copyright © 2011 Densho. All Rights Reserved.