Densho Digital Archive - Zen Shibayama Interview (denshovh-szen-01-0002)

<Begin Segment 2>

FK: So were you born on the island then?

ZS: No, I was born in Seattle.

FK: Tell me about the rest of your family.

ZS: Well, there isn't much to say. [Laughs] My older brother, he might have... I guess he was born in Seattle, too. And my sister, Kimiko, and I think my younger sister, Michiko -- the one that just passed away recently -- she was born in, she was born in Bainbridge. And Masaru was born when I was in the service. Later on, that was back in '39, something like that. No, wait a minute. Yeah... no, he was born when I was in Japan back in '39. I was gone about two years in Japan. And my other brother, Jimmy, was born in '42. And he, that happened when we were in Moses Lake. He had to go to Wenatchee, I think, 'cause there's no facility in Moses Lake. That's about it.

FK: So you grew up on the island then, is that right?

ZS: Oh, you could say so.

FK: About how old were you when you came over to the island?

ZS: Well, I went to Bainbridge High School for a while, I went to grade school at Pleasant Beach. And later on I guess we moved to Seattle. My father built a home right there. He was kind of proud of the fact that he only paid two hundred dollars for the lumber that he scrounged around for. And later on we added an extension to that house, so I lived on Bainbridge for quite a while.

FK: What do you remember about going to school on the island?

ZS: Well, not too much. At Pleasant Beach, I could remember Kitayamas used to be in, they used to live nearby there and they were one of the families there. And I can't remember anybody else. I think Tonookas was in that school, too, I'm not sure. They lived somewhere around there, that neighborhood. And that's about it.

FK: Did you get into any activities at school? 'font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>

ZS: No, I, I was still real small then, third or fourth grade, I guess. And after we moved to the, back to Seattle... and later on we moved back to Bainbridge. Then I was still in Pleasant Beach. And later on I had to go... George, my brother, and Kimi, my sister, went to Japan. And when I came back I, I went to Bainbridge High School, one year or so. That was about it.