<Begin Segment 13>

PW: So my question was, I'm curious to hear about your involvement in the Junior YBA. When were you active?

RO: Well, again, this is very interesting as I mentioned about the fact that the Japanese American kids were basically, they were their own entity, group of people and so on. Almost never associated after hours with the general population, especially in high school. None of them went to a prom, so then as a result, this was kind of understood, and so as a result then, we would then get together and say, "Hey, let's have a dance." So we would go to the, ask the church if we could use their facilities, and there might be maybe six or eight couples. But it was trying to then behave in a way where this is a natural thing for young people to do, but it so happened it was basically then an issue of isolation from the rest of the community. This is why that, then again, my Caucasian friend says, "Well, gee, don't you remember we went to the dance?" So as a result then, as a result then, that association extended then to sports. And so at that time there was a young Buddhist league basketball group that played at Edison High School in Fresno. And so there were people that would be picked from different places to have a team. Fresno obviously had more Japanese Americans, so then they had a team. We had fewer, in fact, we had a young Chinese kid play for our team because we needed another man. And it became something we did on Sunday afternoons. Our team went to play this, and there was a particular league in whatever spot. So it was the organized physical activity, and I think there was basically, other than what we did on school.

PW: Was your parents at all socially active with the church?

RO: No. And again, as I say, I think that if anybody was active, it was certainly my mother because of her association with other young mothers and women. So that's why they had the women's league, women's group and so on. And so as a result, that's how she became friends with various groups, and so she did not identify herself as being Christian or Buddhist, because we did not attend either one of those churches.

PW: You mentioned to me that your father was very close friends with the Japanese American gentlemen who owned the grocery store?

RO: Right.

PW: What was his name?

RO: His name was... what was the first name? His name was Kajitani, was it Yoshi? Oh, I can't remember for sure.

PW: Do you remember much about Mr. Kajitani?

RO: Oh, yeah, I remember them. He and... because our restaurant was just right next door, so as a result, I often found myself going over and walking in the store because I knew then their daughter, their daughter was a little bit younger than I was, and also then the boy in the family was the same age as my older brother. So it was a couple years older. So it was someone you hang around with, played with and so on. I remember there was a... I can't remember if it was the Fourth of July or something where then we both dressed up. She was dressed up as a young pioneer woman, and I dressed up as a cowboy with a hat and a holster and chaps. And I remember there was a photograph taken, again, that association, you think, "That's kind of strange." But as a part of the community and taking part in it, you just do what you do with the people you know, you know best.

PW: And the Kajitani family also went to Gila River?

RO: I think they did but I'm not quite sure what block they were in. Because, again, my association with people were basically next door, were the people that were in my barrack. Later on, I realized that then they... the author.

PW: Masumoto?

RO: Masumoto, yeah. I don't remember him, but then I remember the family. After a while, then we got to know him better.

<End Segment 13> - Copyright © 2023 Densho. All Rights Reserved.