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TI: When you were about seven years old or so, you moved from Tacoma, Washington, down to California.

KY: Yes.

TI: Why did you move, why did the family move?

KY: Well, my father got a job in Santa Maria, Guadalupe, in that area, teaching judo. And so he moved down there, got a job, and since our family was from Washington, by boat to, I think, it was San Francisco. And then from there we took the train to Santa Maria.

TI: When you say by boat, how do you take a boat from Tacoma, Washington, to San Francisco. What would the path be, do you remember?

KY: Well all I know is we got on the boat in Seattle or Tacoma, and we came right on down the coast and it took us about two days to get down there, to get to San Francisco. Then I think we got on the train and went to Guadalupe, because the train went through Guadalupe, and that's where my father was teaching judo. So he picked us up there, and we lived in that neighborhood for a few years.

TI: Now, do you recall any, going from the Pacific Northwest to California, what differences did you notice? Like in the weather or the people, did you notice anything different?

KY: No. I was on the ship, and I had to take care of my kid sister. So I always had my kid sister, she was only about, what is it, year old or something like that? And so I always carried her with me on the ship. I stayed with her and watched the little girl. Because the other ones were a little older so they ran around on their own.

TI: Now, that seems a little, a little unusual to me, that you would take care of your kid sister and not, say, your mother, father, or your older sister.

KY: Well, my father was not on the ship, so it was just my mother. And my mother had five kids, so she had to kind of watch all those five children, and so I kind of got stuck taking care of the little girl. Because I was, I think, seven years old at the time, you know, to take care of her.

TI: And so in California, Guadalupe, what childhood memories do you have of Guadalupe, things that you did?

KY: Well, actually, we say Guadalupe, but actually we was in a little town called Betteravia, which is only a few miles from Guadalupe. But there is no Betteravia there anymore, it was a sugar factory there. And a lot of work, they had homes there and a hotel for the employees to work in the sugar plant, and that was way before I got there. Because the sugar plantation was closed by the time I got there, but the thing is, it was a building that my mother, my father rented. And that's where we lived for a year or so. And I think that's where I started my life in California there. We moved from Santa Maria, Lompoc, then back to Santa Maria and around that area, because that's where my father taught judo.

TI: So you're kind of a young boy, say you're nine, ten years old. What would a typical day be like in the summertime for you when you're not going to school? What would you do?

KY: Well, this is a farm town. So we used to go to the packing shed, see the workers work in the shed, packing vegetables. But the thing is, we went to the shed, and we found out ways of getting inside. [Laughs] And having a grand time in the building, stealing the rubber band and stretching them out for blocks. But it was... and then went home, we played Kick the Can or Hide and Seek or whatever it is that we can play around the neighborhood. Because we had some neighbors that we got friends with, our neighbors, so we had a great time when we were kids. Get flooded out in the wintertime because Santa Maria is sort of like in a valley, and the rain from the mountain went through Santa Maria. So when it rains up in the mountain, we had a flood in the street. But it was great for us, because we'd take our shoes off and we'd play in the streets in the water, and it was about six to eight inches deep, and we had a great time out in the street, get all wet. I remember enjoying that. You see a log or a piece of wood come by, great, we'd get on that thing and sail down the road for a while, as far as we can go. And after that, the lumber kept right on going, and we couldn't go any further because there was a street blockage and the water went under like a creek or something.

TI: When you say "we," you mentioned your neighbors.

KY: My neighbors, yeah.

TI: So who were some of your friends during this time? Do you remember their names or who they were?

KY: No. I know a Japanese family, Iwamoto family, which was only a block away. But we went to camp and they were in Santa Maria Valley, but we had moved to Redwood City. So I lost track of all those people, because they went to another camp, and we went up, and we ended up in Tanforan Racetrack.

TI: Before we go there, so back in, your friends, you mentioned a Japanese family, were most of your friends back then Japanese?

KY: No, I had, my neighbor was Portuguese, and I had another family, I don't know what it was. He must have been Irish or something like that. But they were more like country folks, because Santa Maria's a country town. So that's the way the family were, like country family, so we got along real well. We were not city slickers. [Laughs] So that was something.

<End Segment 4> - Copyright © 2007 Densho. All Rights Reserved.