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VY: Okay, I have a couple of questions about childhood and then we'll move on. Do you remember games that you played when you were a child with your friends?

MK: Let's see. Hopscotch was very popular, and roller skating. Oh, hide and seek, that was the other one, and tag. Jacks, those were the main sports that we were involved in.

VY: What kind of responsibilities did you have? For instance, did you help your mom with the laundry that she brought in later on?

MK: Yes, I helped wash, and later I was able to iron the hankies. [Laughs] I enjoyed it; it was fun.

VY: And how about school? What was elementary school like?

MK: I enjoyed it. At that time, we were somehow involved in Japanese culture at the school, too, and so we would dress up in a kimono and our teachers would invite us. I remember one of my classmates, a Caucasian boy, teased me. He looked at my feet, and we wear tabi, which has the big toe and then the rest of it encased in another section. So he says, "Oh, you have two toes." [Laughs] And later on I thought, oh, I should have told him, "Yes, it's better because you only have one toe." And I remember one of my classmates' mother would invite me over to their home, and she would ask me to sing a Japanese song. And so I would sing and then she'd give me a nickel. [Laughs]

VY: Did you like doing that? Was that fun?

MK: It was embarrassing, but I usually did what the elders asked me to do.

VY: How about the other students, were they mostly Japanese American, or were there other Japanese Americans?

MK: There were a few of us, yes, but it was mostly Caucasian.

VY: And did you go to church?

MK: Oh yes, every Sunday.

<End Segment 4> - Copyright © 2018 Densho. All Rights Reserved.