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BN: We're gonna come back to the wartime, but I want to ask you a couple more questions about before the war.

SI: Just the beginning, starting...

BN: Yeah, so we'll come back to that. But I wanted to ask you about the food. What kinds of... this is before the war now, not after. What kinds of food did you eat?

SI: Those days was, country was most of the potato, rice and potato, but country had most important, potato was. Of course, it has rice. We went into the school, slice the potato and put it inside a lunchbox, and try to make them nice to show, that's how they're making the lunch, slice the potato.

BN: Did you eat any kind of meat?

SI: Those days, we had the farm so we had, you know, pork, and then we're trying to keep 'em salt, those days, no refridge, so the salt keep 'em from... putting the salt. Because farm have the pig and, what you call, that chicken and young sheep. So we have the, keeping with us, they call it shiomomi, salt to keep 'em sent to the, family go to the, study at Japan, sent to that Japan.

BN: And you mentioned earlier that you would help prepare lunches for the workers, similar kind of food?

SI: Yeah, mostly we would make 'em... those days, the farm is enough to have enough food, 'cause we raised all the chicken and pigs.

BN: So you, on your own farm you had the animals that you would raise to eat. So you knew how to prepare the animals for...

SI: But I don't know how to kill 'em. My mother had to do it. [Laughs]

BN: You had someone else do it.

SI: My mother had to do it.

BN: That's one kind of knowledge that has been lost in the last couple generations. Our parents' generation all knew how to kill chickens, and our generation was completely hopeless. Were there, did your family attend churches or temples, any kind of religion?

SI: Those days, Okinawa, most of, really respect our past, they called it Senzo, Okinawa, most people respect that past. That's all, we never go the church. That's how many generation all put on the senkou in the morning, always change the water and the prayer. Okinawa was believe in that, so we're growing up that. In the morning put that, evening put that senkou.

BN: What were some of the big celebrations or occasions?

SI: Oh, big celebration is mostly New Year and Obon, right.

BN: What kinds of things would you do for New Year's?

SI: Oh, we would make our own tofu, mochi. I used to make 'em, sixth grade I had to make that rice bean. They're called usu, and take all the... what you call, wind to go take out the water and soak 'em in the water and make tofu. I started from sixth grade, I make all my own tofu. [Laughs] That's we had to do, make 'em own.

BN: Did you visit other families New Year's?

SI: Oh, yes. All the relative come together, go and visit to the close relative and friends, and we'd play the... what you call that one?

BN: Oh, the...

SI: You know that one?

BN: The ball and the paddle... what is that called? [Laughs] I don't remember either.

SI: Yes, to do the play together.

BN: I'll think of it in about two hours. And what about during the Obon time?

SI: Obon time, we have to be, go to the farm, sugar cane, cut the long one, put it on the... they called it senzo, that's for the, there's going to come to the family, so tsue, that means a stick to hold to the walk, that long one. Butsudan was big, so both side two each, and [inaudible] for the, call it gosenzo. And all the food is, all cook and put it on the senzo first, after we go to eat.

BN: Did you do the kind of Bon dance that they do in Hawaii?

SI: Yes, we did do that, going to Jikoen, yes.

BN: Is it similar? Is it the same or similar, what they do at Jikoen to what you did when you were in Okinawa? Similar?

SI: Uh-huh.

BN: But it was just, it was just in July, whenever...

SI: July, and we have August, but we never have August, only for the... where was this? I forgot, long time we never have this kind. But most important is gosenzo, the dry. August one, not too much.

<End Segment 4> - Copyright © 2012 Densho. All Rights Reserved.