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TI: So when you were born, describe your house. Do you remember the house you grew up in?

SA: It was on the nursery, the house was on the nursery, but I don't remember too many, just going to school when I was five years old. I remember that, but other than that...

TI: So let's talk about that. What do you remember about school?

SA: Yeah, I went to the school called Santa Monica Boulevard, I think, in Hollywood, and it's still there. And I remember walking to school every day. I became very close friends with a family that had no children. They had a florist here in Hollywood, and they used to treat me like their own daughter, so I tried to spend as much time with them while they were there.

TI: And so like after school, you would go visit them?

SA: Yes, every day.

TI: And what would you do? Would you go to their shop?

SA: I went to the shop and then I would ride with him on his delivery truck, the flowers that he had to deliver, I would always ride with him, but they were very good to me.

TI: And do you remember their names?

SA: Yeah, Kakihara was their name.

TI: That's interesting. And when you went to school, were there very many other Japanese Americans?

SA: No, there were not too many, not too many.

TI: And so tell me about your friends when you were growing up in elementary school. Were they Caucasian, or who did you play with?

SA: There was a Japanese family that had a chop suey in Hollywood, and they had, I think, three or four children, and I used to play with them a lot. But I don't know what happened to them.

TI: Because even though you have a sister, she was quite a bit younger.

SA: Big difference in age, yeah.

TI: And so I'm guessing that when she was born, you were old enough that you had to take care of her.

SA: Oh, I enjoyed it, I really enjoyed taking care of her. Always bought her clothes and shoes, she still remembers. Like the other day, last week, I bought her a car, and she says, "You're always doing something for me." But she's my only sister, so I want to do whatever I can for her.

TI: So you were almost like, it almost sounds like, almost a second mother. Because you were a teenager and older when she was just growing up.

SA: That's right.

TI: Any other stories about... well, let me ask you this question. When she did something bad or something, were you the one that had to reprimand her, or was it your mother?

SA: No, we never had a problem.

TI: She was always good?

SA: She was always good, and she's still good. [Laughs]

TI: But then did you explain to her all the things about going to school, all those things?

SA: No, no, I didn't.

<End Segment 2> - Copyright (c) 2017 Densho. All Rights Reserved.