<Begin Segment 12>

MN: Now, your mother, did she, is she the one that used to buy the rice and miso, and where did she buy it from?

TY: We used to go to Gardena, buy one taru at a time. You know taru? Big taru like this, what is it, about four, five gallons, three gallon, five gallon, whatever, the bamboo taru. That's how we used to buy it, one taru at a time. And then she would pour it out to one gallon can or whatever, and that's how she used it.

MN: So what did you buy in the taru, shoyu?

TY: Shoyu, yeah.

MN: What else did you buy?

TY: We bought miso, miso in a big container. And I don't know how long it'd last, but as I can remember, shoyu, miso, yeah, those were the big items, and the rice. So my dad used to buy half a ton of rice at a time, or one ton. We had five boys, eat up the rice in no time. [Laughs]

MN: Where did you store all the rice?

TY: Well, he had a place to store it. He stored it in the ofuroba. He had a little house about ten, they call it the koya, anyway. Koya means small house. Koya, and he used to have it in there.

MN: Is this where your father also made his sake, in the koya?

TY: No, he made his sake, shochu in the barn.

MN: Can you share with us how he made the shochu?

TY: Well, we weren't supposed to get in there where he's making the shochu, but we got in there, and he made, he had a boiler, he had a concrete boiler where he would burn his wood, then it'd have a copper, copper bottle or tub, I guess it was a copper, copper kettle, I guess, he had in the hot water. And then he had a little spout coming out of the hot kettle, and then he had a little, little dish right below where the water, the shochu would drip, then he had his bottle there, which would, which would drip into the bottle. That's how he used to make his shochu. And then he, in those days they would invite their friends and then celebrate making a shochu and drink. And I used to be there. "What are they celebrating for?" And they wouldn't give me a drink. I was a little kid. [Laughs]

MN: So what are they celebrating? Like Oshogatsu, or what are they celebrating?

TY: Buddy buddies. That's it. "Hey, come to my place today. We make shochu today." He used to make it quite often. That's amazing, the steam comes out and drips to water, and then the bottle would fill up, they'd drink and celebrate, half drunk. [Laughs] They used to have a good time. You know, those days Japanese people were really, really good. Those days they would help neighbors, neighbor to neighbor help plant, help harvest back and forth, and then when the crop is done, that's when they used to celebrate, I guess. And I used to go help my neighbors with my folks, and they would come to help our folks. In those days, I guess, well, I wouldn't say labor, but I guess labor was hard to get or something, or else they were friends enough to help each other. I don't know which, but those days they used to help each other. Nowadays they don't help nobody. So, like after school, my dad used to say, well, so-and-so, "Mr. Hiji gonna plant cauliflower so come and help over there after school," so we just come home from school and automatic, go there and help him, so then in turn they would help my father too, you see. So things worked out real well then.

MN: And so your father, when he would make shochu, was it, like, once a week or once a month?

TY: I don't know how often he made it. I'm not sure. Maybe two or three times a year or something like that.

MN: And since we're, I mentioned Oshogatsu, what was Oshogatsu like?

TY: Hoo boy, Shogatsu was Shogatsu, man, I'm telling you. Boy, my mother used to prepare food, I don't know how many days ahead, but boy they used to make gochiso, gochiso, man, every house, every Japanese house. And then we would eat our morning Shogatsu celebration, have a little sake. Those Shogatsu celebrations, they didn't mind giving us sake so we drank sake at Shogatsuno morning. And then we had to dress up. My father was a loyal Japanese, I guess. He would make us wear a suit every Shogatsu morning, and then before we ate our ozoni breakfast or whatever we had to gasshou to the shrine, our butsudan, every, every Shogatsu, and we had the ozoni and then we would relax for a while and Dad would go to his friend's place, celebrate Shogatsu with all his friends at the friend's house. So we lived on Johnson ranch, as I can remember, we'd go to every house and all the people on the other home, they would come to our house visiting. And it was nice, it really was. And so it lasted for two days, and the women folks would stay home and accompany the people that would come to celebrate Shogatsu with the Yamashita family or Hiji family or, all the parents had their way to enjoy people that visit them. So two days it was Shogatsu, I'm telling you. Nowadays they don't do that because we live so far apart and the culture is different.

MN: Now, when you mention gochiso, what kind of gochiso did your mother make?

TY: Oh boy, she made royal Japanese Shogatsu gotso, is the best way I can put it. She would get the ebi, big, like a, what is the ebi?

MN: Iseebi.

TY: Iseebi, cooked that, two of 'em, male and female, I guess, decorated on the table on a plate with all the veggies around it. It was beautiful. And then she would cook a fish, I don't recall what kind of fish, but anyway, fish, one or two fish for decoration. Man, then they'd cook konnyaku, they'd cook fish rolls, kombu, and I don't recall what, but anyway, all the Japanese food, tempura, ebi, kai, abalone, sliced abalone or konnyaku and, what do you call that brown thing, that brown cake? What do you call that brown cake? They were so good. Molly, what do you call that?

MY: What?

TY: You know, that brown thing that my mother used to make. It'll come up pretty soon. That and --

MY: Something like jello.

TY: Yeah, something like that. Yokan. Yeah, yokan, they used to make yokan with beans, lima beans, white ones, brown ones. It's pretty beautiful. And then all the, anyway, all type of Japanese food, and it was really, really a Shogatsu. This Okinawa friend of ours does it over here yet, and it was a real Shogatsu, celebration of the New Year, really was.

<End Segment 12> - Copyright © 2011 Densho. All Rights Reserved.