<Begin Segment 8>

SY: So when the war broke out, how old were you when the war broke out?

NS: The war broke out... gee, when I went to camp I was eighteen, so...

SY: Just before that?

NS: Yeah, just before. So maybe I was... I mean, actually, I think I was about fifteen, I guess, and then the war started and this and that, and then we had to go in camp when I was eighteen.

SY: So can you remember that day that you heard --

NS: Oh, yes. My father got the newspaper, we had radio, you know, you hear, you listen to them on the radio saying this and this and that.

SY: So your father actually subscribed to the newspaper?

NS: Yes. They used to, my father used to have to go pick it up in Gardena every day to pick it up. He read everything, and that's how we got the news. But we had radio.

SY: So you actually had a lot of conveniences.

NS: Uh-huh.

SY: Did you feel like your father was struggling to make...

NS: Well, yeah, oh, yeah. When we were young kids, my father wasn't doing... everybody, not only our family, everybody was having, struggling time. Some couldn't even find a food to eat. So my father used to go help them. We were lucky that we had farm, so my mother raised all the vegetable and we made our own food. Only thing was to buy the rice and meat. And then we had fruit trees, and gosh, I don't remember starving. We didn't get everything, we didn't get to eat any fancy things, but my father put food on our table. I mean, I was the cook so I know.

SY: So your family, because you have such a big family, did you have a lot of friends or did you...

NS: Oh, yeah, that's what I'm saying. My brother would bring their friends to eat, too, because some of 'em didn't find food in their table so they wanted to come eat with us. So my father used to complain about, "Don't bring them over anymore," or something like that, 'cause not enough food or something. I used to hear him. And my mother would say, "Orai desho, aru kara," or something. Because I used to make a big pot of vegetable dish, okazu, and stew and things likes like that. And my kids brothers are all young yet, so they didn't eat that much.

SY: So did you enjoy growing up with all these...

NS: Oh, yeah, we had a real good, uh-huh, we had a real good relationship. We never fight, we never... well, my father made sure we didn't fight or anything. Of course, my young kid sister, I mean, my brothers, they would fight with my sisters and pull hair or something like that, but that was about it.

SY: And you got along with your brothers and sister.

NS: Oh, yeah, 'cause I was older, and they mind me 'cause I was always the cook.

<End Segment 8> - Copyright © 2012 Densho. All Rights Reserved.