<Begin Segment 2>

JN: Describe what your day-to-day life was like on Bainbridge Island prior to the war.

LK: Day to day life... I remember, I remember feeding chickens and going out in the field and watching my mother working and my aunt who lived with us sometimes. And we had asparagus, I remember that. And in one of the sheds they'd bring in the asparagus and they'd put them together in little... there was a trough or a tray with water in it where they put the asparagus, and I remember standing and watching them put the, fix the asparagus ready for market. What other... oh, we had a swing in the backyard, and we had a sandbox, and I could remember playing in the sandbox. Oh, and I remember hanging clothes on the clothesline to dry. Or watching... I don't think I worked so much as played. It was a typical little kid's childhood, I think, before the war, you mean? Yeah.

JN: Did you live in this house?

LK: We lived in this house. I was born in this house, all my siblings were born in this house, one of my aunts was born in this house. Oh, and my uncle was born in this house, the two youngest of my mother's siblings.

JN: Where did you attend school and what was that like?

LK: I went to Pleasant Beach school, grade school, and it's, I think now it's an assisted... I mean, it's not a retirement home. I think it's a home for... I'm not sure what. But it's across from the Lynwood Theater, right there next to the, what used to be a restaurant there. It was the Olsen's home and I remember peering through the hedges at the house. But what I remember about Pleasant Beach school is this humongous rock that was right in the front of it. I think it's still there, and we used to climb on it at recess time. And there's a big crack in the rock, and my shoe got caught in that crack. And that's what I remember about Pleasant Beach school is that the, the bell rang that recess was over and I couldn't get my shoe out of that crack and I left that shoe in there and ran to class. But I got the shoe back after school.

JN: How did you get to school?

LK: On school bus.

JN: What sort of things did your family do for fun?

LK: I don't remember anything so much as vacations. I don't think we took vacations and trips. What we did was visit other families, whether it was for New Year's or Christmas. It wasn't... but after, as we got older, after the war I remember going to Mount Rainier and I think we had one infamous camping trip and my father was driving and it got late and we couldn't find a place to camp. And I remember we pitched a tent out in some pasture and we had to watch out for cow dung and everybody was complaining, but that was the extent of our vacation. [Laughs]

JN: But around here you just made, made things with what you had around to have fun?

LK: We did. Are you talking about after the war?

JN: Before the war.

LK: Oh, before the war. Before the war, yeah, I don't remember any kind of a special trip or anything like that.

JN: Do you remember any community events? You were quite young.

LK: I was quite young and, see, I can't remember if this was before or after... I think it must have been before. But I remember going to, it must have been an all-island picnic, and it was at the Fletcher's Bay, I think it was called a park. And there was a big hall there, and they had a picnic outside, and it was all the Japanese families were there.

JN: Did your family attend church?

LK: Yes, we... the Japanese Baptist Church missionaries and minister would come to the island to have service after the regular service on Sunday, and so we went to Sunday school. And it was at this building that is now part of the Nakata family, I think. It's down in the dip where the... it's by the Yoshidas... between the Yoshidas and the Nakatas. We used to go there for Sunday school.

<End Segment 2> - Copyright © 2007 Densho. All Rights Reserved.