<Begin Segment 7>

JN: How was your day-to-day experiences at camp, either Manzanar or Minidoka, different from your day to day life on Bainbridge Island?

LK: Well, for one thing, we had playmates every day. On Bainbridge, as I said, we didn't visit each other unless it was a special occasion. And even then it seemed to be not that frequent, maybe special birthdays or churches. But it was, it wasn't to have a playmate every day and to have someone to play with. In that way it differed. We didn't... we didn't eat together always, that was... at home we would all be around the same table. But there we could eat and sit with our friends or... in that way it was different. I'm trying to think, other than... and our chores, my chores, there weren't as many chores for me to do. I remember having to gather kindling for the ofuro when I was little and to feed the chickens or to help pull weeds or do something. But we didn't have chores per say. Except my mother did... she must have made rice on the pot-bellied stove sometimes without... other than at the kitchen, I mean, eat at the mess hall, because I remember going to the laundry room and washing a pot of rice. So I remember that.

JN: Do you remember your mom making any comments about you not being all together for dinnertime?

LK: I don't remember. In fact, I hardly remember any kind of disciplining that needed to... I'm trying to think, but I probably put it all in the back of my head in a way. But it seems, I think because there were so many eyes upon us all, I mean, it wasn't just my family. Even, I think, even, I think it's after the war or even growing up, one of the things I remember my mother saying -- it must have been after the war -- she said, "You know, you have to always behave well and stop and think whatever you decide to do because you reflect on our family." But she said, "It's not just your family, you're gonna reflect on the whole Japanese community." And I remember thinking, "Whoa," but I remember her telling me that. And I, and I think, well, camp was like a small town and I think that's... it was like a small town. Everybody was there looking out for their children and others, too.

<End Segment 7> - Copyright © 2007 Densho. All Rights Reserved.