<Begin Segment 31>

MN: So when you were in Colorado were you able to have some free time and kind of explore and travel around the area?

TY: We did a lot of that. We did a lot of that. We traveled. We had a lot of time on our hands and we had enough gasoline coupons because we were farmers, and we went to Colorado Springs, went to Granada, went to Rocky Ford, Pueblo, and Conejo River Valley, down to New Mexico, and we went to that Arroyo Gorge where, see that bridge that the Japanese man built a long time ago, went to see that. We had a good time.

MN: Did you encounter any prejudice?

TY: Pardon?

MN: Did you encounter any prejudice?

TY: Oh yes, plenty, plenty of prejudice. You know, the Colorado people didn't really get around that much, I guess, Colorado Japanese. So we go to different cities, different parks, different hamburger stands, whatever, and we would, while traveling time goes by, twelve o'clock, got to eat, right? Not that you got to eat, but we eat, walk into the restaurant, we sit down at the restaurant and be waiting for a waitress or waiter to come in to serve us, and they never would serve us. They'll serve somebody that came in after us, so we'd ask the boss, "Hey, where's the boss around here?" Say, "Oh, he's in the back cooking," so one of the guys said, "Hey, where's the boss? How come, how come we don't get served? Those guys got served, they came in after us got served before us. How come?" "If you Japs don't get the hell out of here we'll get a shotgun and shoot you." So, "No, you can't shoot us." "I mean it, gonna shoot you," said, "I'm gonna go get the gun," so we just run out. [Laughs] We had about three or four experiences like that in Colorado. That's how bad it was over there too, because I guess the Japanese people didn't get around that much.

And then, like there was a cherry picking one season one time, advertised in the paper, pick your own cherries for so much, this and that, so a bunch of us guys went cherry picking. Got to be lunchtime, they said, "Hey, Tak, go get us some hamburgers," so I said okay, so, "Give me some money," I went to get the hamburgers. Waited in line, my turn would come up, "Hey, I want one dozen hamburgers." "We don't serve no Japs. Get the hell out of here. We don't serve 'em. Get out of the way." I said, "Well, if you don't serve me I'll get it someplace else." That's how prejudiced it was. And those people didn't know it, and they were, they thought they were king. But they weren't. So were there a lot of prejudiced then, yeah, so we almost got shot many times.

MN: Now, you mentioned a Oshogatsu in Colorado. The one year, the first year you went to your friend's place, and then after that you had your own?

TY: Yeah, on our own. Made our own usu with cement and a tub, made our own hammer with a wood, eucalyptus tree wood, different kind of wood, and we built our own fire outside with the butane gas, and we had our own mochitsuki, kasane mochi, all that. Mama says we got to have our kasane mochi every year, so we made an effort to make kasanemochi, and we did. And we, our mochitsuki hasn't stopped yet. [Laughs]

MN: Where did you get all the Japanese food?

TY: Let's see, Colorado has some Japanese food in, in Denver. Yeah, there was a store in Denver. We used to have to go to Denver to go to get it.

MN: Did you celebrate Christmas?

TY: Yes. As usual, yeah, we did. Give present to each one and decorate the tree, that was Christmas for us, so it wasn't religiously but traditionally.

MN: And then you became active with the YBA.

TY: YBA.

MN: The Young Buddhists Association.

TY: Uh-huh.

MN: Was there a Buddhist church in Greeley?

TY: Yeah. No, there --

MN: In Kersey?

TY: No, in Denver.

MN: Oh, in Denver.

TY: We used to go to Denver.

MN: Did you participate in their Obon?

TY: Let's see, I don't know whether I did or not. No, I don't think so. Not over there, no.

<End Segment 31> - Copyright © 2011 Densho. All Rights Reserved.