<Begin Segment 3>

MN: So when they took you to the Shonien, how did they explain to you where they were taking you?

MY: I don't remember. I think just that they would take us in and I know I felt real relieved.

MN: What year did you enter the Shonien?

MY: 1932.

MN: Did you enter the Shonien with your two brothers?

MY: Yes.

MN: And when you arrived at the Shonien, where were they located?

MY: 1841 Redcliff Street. That's in Los Angeles near Silver Lake.

MN: Now do you know if the Shonien was built purposely away from little Tokyo?

MY: No, I don't know too much about it other than there were about three previous locations. I mean, Mr. Kusumoto started with two or three and then he got a few more then he got a few more. So he moved from one house to a bigger house to a bigger house, then eventually he decided, gee, he doesn't need four Shonien. Actually Shonien is, the real name was... official name was Japanese Children's Home of Southern California. So he had a place built, it included five city lots, and it was a big place, big building. It had a sick room, had an office, it had a girls' room, had a babies room, had a second babies room they called it, a little bit older. They had a boys' room, they had a dining room, they had a kitchen, they had a laundry and it was a big place. Eventually they built a playroom, it's like a big gym, like a regular size gym and we'd play in there most of the time.

MN: So when you arrived at the Shonien, do you remember roughly how many children were there?

MY: Yeah, I think there was, including the babies, I think there was about forty, thirty-five or forty.

MN: You know, for a lot of us who don't know what the Shonien is, can you explain to us what it was?

MY: Yeah, well, the daily routine was like we had a regular boy's room that we were in but a buzzer would ring at five forty-five so we'd get up, put our clothes on, get washed, and we all had small chores to do like sweep the hallway, clean the yard... different things. And then at quarter after six we all went to the play room and they had a chapel service just like a regular church service. You'd sing songs, one of the otonas or the elders that took care of it would give a short talk. It was like a small regular church service.

MN: Was it a Christian service?

MY: Christian service, so we'd sing a few hymns, then at a quarter to seven -- it lasted for half an hour -- at quarter to seven we'd go to the dining room and so we'd line up in the hallway and everybody, okay, we go into the dining room, girls go to their tables, the boys would go to theirs and the younger kids would go. The younger kids didn't go to the church service, it's just the older ones, so there was like maybe twenty of us.

MN: And you said you went to the service a quarter after six, so what time did you actually wake up?

MY: Quarter to six.

MN: You woke up at quarter to six?

MY: Yeah, they had a buzzer that would ring and they had a buzzer to all the rooms but they'd ring a buzzer and you'd get up. That was a quarter to six.

MN: And then by quarter after six you had to go to the church service?

MY: Yeah, we had to be in the play room they called it. But it was big like a gym.

MN: And was this seven days a week?

MY: Six days.

MN: Six days.

MY: The seventh day, as we got older, they used to send us to the L.A. Union Church. So we went to church there, the Union Church after we got older. But Sunday they had a service around ten o'clock, a church service before lunch, before noon. Ten, ten-thirty or, so maybe eleven, but it was like church seven days a week.

MN: So Sundays since you didn't have this service at the big play room, did you get to sleep in?

MY: No, every day it was the same, you get up at a quarter to six.

MN: And then after the service you went into the dining room.

MY: Yeah, well, it's pretty much like being in the army, I guess, you line up for everything. So we'd line up in the hallway, everybody get okay then we'd go into the dining room.

MN: And you had assigned seating?

MY: What's that?

MN: Everybody was assigned a seat?

MY: Yeah, we all had our own... the boys had their own dining room table, the girls had theirs, the younger boys and kids, they had their own.

MN: Did you have to say a prayer before you ate?

MY: Yeah, we said, "God is great and God is good and we thank him for this food." We'd sing it like every meal.

MN: So breakfast, what was breakfast like?

MY: We had cooked prunes or cooked apricots every morning, small dish. We had a bowl of cooked cereal, and we used to call it mush, but cream of wheat was Sunday. That was the good cereal. But then we had as much toast as you wanted and then we had a cup of hot chocolate. So it was plenty, I mean, we had a lot of food.

MN: Was there any occasion for a Japanese breakfast?

MY: Never. Never had a Japanese breakfast. Every day was pretty much the same.

MN: Now when you were living with your parents do you remember what kind of food you ate?

MY: No, I don't remember.

MN: Now after breakfast, what did you do?

MY: Got ready to go to school. We'd generally leave around... I guess it was a little after seven-thirty or so. 'Cause we walked to grammar school, we walked to junior high school, we walked to high school.

<End Segment 3> - Copyright © 2011 Densho. All Rights Reserved.