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PW: Do you know how your parents met?

RO: You know, I think it's one of these things where then the term baishakunin.

PW: Baishakunin.

RO: Yes. And here is this older man who was unmarried and so on, and then somehow, I don't know how the connection is, through how he eventually hooked up with my mother.

PW: Do you know where they were married?

RO: I'm assuming they were married in Southern California.

PW: What were your parents like? Just personality or what they did?

RO: [Laughs] You know, my father was typically an immigrant and so on. We spoke to him in English and he spoke back to us in Japanese and so on. And the same thing with my mother, even though my mother spoke English, and then they find that the three boys, we understood what they were saying to us in Japanese, but we always answered back in English. So you kind of understand some Japanese from hearing it and having these conversations, and you know when they're talking to you and what they're saying. But then if you're not using the language as much as you should, you'll find that then there are these moments in which you just did the best that you can.

PW: Did they stay in, did your family stay in Selma for your whole childhood?

RO: Yeah.

PW: Were they part of the Japanese American community?

RO: Yes, absolutely.

PW: Church or temple?

RO: Well, I think it was through the restaurant. Yeah, I think it was through the restaurant and so on. And again, as a very young boy at that time, I remember then these are the kind of memories that I have as a young boy. But after the restaurant closed, there was always then a lot of young Japanese men, who were youngish, I guess, who had come to the restaurant if it was closed, and there was always a card game in the back. I mean, it's a very, very typical thing I find, that over the years, that's taken place. So that's what I remember, is the fact that then there were these, after closing activities, which were basically gambling, I guess.

PW: Did they close before the war?

RO: They closed... well, no. They were open until the internment... what's the word I want to use?

PW: Evacuation day?

RO: Orders and so on, yeah, then they eventually closed the restaurant. In fact, I remembered then that moment in which we had to close the restaurant down and so on, and my mother and father telling me that we're going to be moving. And so that's another story, of course, is that, this is after then, but yes, that's where my memories became very, very clear and very vivid.

PW: Before we move over to that, because that's definitely a question, I'm still curious about the Japanese American community in Selma at that time. Did your family celebrate Oshogatsu, New Year's?

RO: Oh, yes, absolutely.

PW: Boy's Day?

RO: Because I remember then, I remember I don't know whose backyard it was, but then I remember the pounding of mochi. Yeah, there were people that would come over. So there was that, again, not specific who they were, but there was this activity that I found that was very interesting. Then I just kind of assumed, okay, this is what we all did and celebrating New Year's Day.

PW: Did your family go to any church or temple?

RO: You know, because I think back in church, I don't think they were regular members. They were members, but I think they were probably supportive of the church, but then not necessarily going. My mother wanted us to go up and go to a Caucasian Christian church, and so this was something that was very, very different for us, so then, in fact, the early memories about then, about going to kindergarten and so on, that then the relationship that I had with them, a lot of Caucasian kids. But I think it was basically then that we were kind of encouraged to go to a Methodist church which is close to where the, that was in town, and we could walk to there, but then my mother and father didn't go, but then all the boys went. And that lasted for a while.

PW: What did you three boys do for fun?

RO: Run around like kids do, and I remember then close to where the restaurant was, was a, there was a canal, and it was usually empty, but it was very typical, the canals that would run through town to send water to the farming community and so on, so there were periods in which then we would, that was the place that we could go and hang out and whatever young kids do and so on, play Cowboys and Indians, whatever. [Laughs]

<End Segment 4> - Copyright © 2023 Densho. All Rights Reserved.