Densho Digital Repository - Mary Kato - Frances Kajita Nishi Interview (Densho ID: ddr-densho-1000-494-15)

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BY: So we're going to talk about after the war. So, Mary, where did you go after the war?

MK: We came to Walla Walla.

BY: And why did your family decide to relocate to Walla Walla?

MK: Dad had gone out to work when they let the Isseis go out to the farm work, and one of the places that he came to Walla Walla. And we knew the Shinbo family. And so anyhow, we decided to come to Walla Walla.

BY: Do you know, how old were you at that time, Frances?

FN: How old I was...

BY: How old were you then?

FN: Going into sixth grade.

BY: Going into sixth grade. So do you remember your family making that decision to move to Walla Walla or did you... just went along with whatever was...

FN: I don't know how the decision was made, but I remember, I think we all had to have sponsors to go somewhere. And so I think through the Shinbos and through the Brickner family, that we were able to move to Walla Walla.

BY: So how did your family know the Shinbo family?

FN: We knew the Shinbo family from way before the war, probably Mr. Shinbo and them all met in Hood River, probably. And then somehow Mr. Shinbo and family moved to Walla Walla. And this family that the Shinbos knew owned a farm in College Place, Washington. And so we moved to College Place, Washington, and lived in the family's, Brickner family's basement. And then eventually, one of their homes opened up on the farm, and it was just a two-bedroom, one room with the kitchen and living room and everything all combined, small little house. And that's where we moved to after living in the basement.

BY: The basement of the Brickner house, okay. Do you remember traveling from (Topaz to Walla Walla), do you remember that trip?

FN: I can't remember anything about that except we were on a train, I think.

BY: Ask Mary about that. So how did you get to Walla Walla? And you talked about VJ Day.

MK: Yes. From Topaz, we got on the train. And they never paid much attention to us because there were all kinds of people plus some servicepeople, you know. And they were coming home. We just stayed quiet and they left us alone.

BY: And so where did you live in Walla Walla? Frances has already told us.

MK: When we came to Walla Walla, Union Pacific Station, now it's gone because they tore that down not too long after we came. But Mrs. Shinbo came and met us at the station there and we went to their house. [Narr. note: Mr. Shinbo was working at his place.] And we also stayed there overnight. And then they had a restaurant, and so Mrs. Shinbo helped at the restaurant. And so she had an old German lady that was from Ukraine before. She was from Kiev, evidently, before. And they took care of, she took care of the house and took care of the kids, you know, Shinbo kids. And so Mr. Shinbo got her daughter moved near College Place there, an old plum orchard there. I forgot what else, hay or wheat, you know. And so he made arrangements that we would stay in her basement. And so we called her Katie, the daughter, Katie Brickner. And so we went through her basement. So we lived in her basement for quite a few... long time there. And then they had a house next door that they were renting to another family, Seventh Day Adventist people. And after they moved out, we got to live in the house. But in the meantime, for several years, we lived up in a little cabin up on a little hill there. No plumbing or anything, you had to carry water. And then we worked on the, picked prunes or plum, you know. But there was an old orchard, so you had to carry, I spent more time carrying a ladder than getting the prunes. It was a hard time.