<Begin Segment 17>

SY: So before the war, were your parents active in church?

NS: Yes, and Japanese school. All of us went to Japanese school. He was... take care of the parents, parents association, he was in one of those, he was head of it.

SY: Oh, he was head of this Japanese parents association.

NS: Well, they have to have head so they could have all these different things going on in Japanese school.

SY: And what church, what was the church then?

NS: Well, the Buddhist church was in Gardena. Well, he wasn't too active there, but still, his name was in there to be in the, as the parents. He wasn't too active with the Buddhist church, but he was with the Japanese school, he was very active, taking part in parents association.

SY: And where was the Japanese school?

NS: In Gardena.

SY: So it was the same...

NS: Yeah, same area.

SY: And how often did you go to Japanese school?

NS: We go every Saturday, 'cause we had to go to American school, so my father was, it was too much to go every day.

SY: So your whole, all your sisters and brothers --

NS: All my sisters and my brothers all went to Japanese school on Saturday only.

SY: Not the younger ones, but the ones that were...

NS: Yeah, yeah.

SY: Do you remember when you started Japanese school?

NS: Well, I was in fifth grade, I guess. Well, actually we started Book One, so first grade, I guess you would say first grade, but I was older when I started.

SY: And the Buddhist church, did you go to church every Sunday?

NS: Yes, I was a member of the Buddhist church and I was in the women's society. I was very active with the Buddhist church.

SY: And that was a very...

NS: Gardena?

SY: In Gardena, so there was a large Japanese community.

NS: I guess so. I never went back there after the war, so I wouldn't know what they're doing now. I was very active then.

SY: But at the time it was pretty --

NS: Do you remember Sakaye Inouye, have you heard of her? She's very active; you see her in the newspaper, in Japanese newspaper all the time. Aratani, you don't know them?

SY: The Aratanis?

NS: Yeah, she's married to George Aratani. She was my old girlfriend. And she was very active with...

SY: Gardena.

NS: Gardena.

SY: The Buddhist church there.

NS: Yeah.

SY: So there were quite a few Japanese.

NS: Oh, yes.

SY: And in included all the people from Dominguez.

NS: Dominguez, Compton, and just all over. They had quite a few people there. Of course, not everybody went to Japanese school, but most of us all did.

SY: So the same people who went to Japanese school went to the Buddhist church?

NS: Uh-huh.

SY: And was there a Christian church?

NS: Yes, oh, yes. My sister was a Christian church, my oldest sister. She's the only one in my family that was Christian.

SY: And what church was that, in Gardena?

NS: Baptist church, yeah, in Gardena. That's a big Baptist church now in Gardena. Real nice, rebuilt that here. I should tell 'em my sister was there before the war.

SY: So there were the two churches then that most Japanese families went to.

NS: Uh-huh.

SY: And your father would go to church?

NS: My father was a Buddhist.

SY: So he would go to Buddhist church.

NS: Yeah.

SY: With you?

NS: Uh-huh. And they used to have some kind of get-together during the wartime. What did they have, those things that they... they have some kind of religious thing, and they used to do it at home. Home religion, some kind of home religion. Do you remember anything? My father used to go to that, and I just wondered, I don't remember the name of it. He used to walk and go to my friend's house.

SY: So it was really, and he was involved in the kenjinkai, too.

NS: Yes, Fukuoka Kenjinkai. He was in that. So that's why they have names all over, so that's why my father was taken. That's what they told me, they told them.

SY: But the people that farmed in Dominguez Hills, these families that farmed there, it sounds like quite a few of them were taken.

NS: Oh, yes.

SY: So do you think there was something special about being in Dominguez Hills?

NS: Not exactly. I think it was easy for them to get hold of them, I think. Quite a few people were taken no matter where, in Gardena, 'cause my father knew some of the people that was in Gardena. And when they went to camp, I said, "Oh, omae wa tsureta na," start talking about them. He told my mother, "So and so was there, too."

SY: So you did know quite a few people.

NS: Oh, yeah.

<End Segment 17> - Copyright © 2012 Densho. All Rights Reserved.