<Begin Segment 2>

FK: So you were about nine when you went to the concentration camps.

SK: I was nine when I went to camp.

FK: Do you remember anything before that time as far as growing up on the island?

SK: About Manzanar?

FK: No, about being, growing up on Bainbridge Island.

SK: Oh, about Bainbridge Island?

FK: You were born on the island?

SK: Yes. I was... I have some wonderful memories of... I had a big family and so they took care of whatever had to be done, and I was, I was always the one that got everything because I was the youngest. And I started school at MacDonald School in Port Blakely, and had, went to kindergarten there. And one of the, one of the funny experiences that happened that first day of school was that I had friends like Mae Terayama and Masa Kitayama, and they were, and they got on the bus and I said, "Okay, I'm going home on the same bus." Well, of course, I got on the wrong bus, and we got to Battle Point, and I said, I says, "This isn't my area." And the bus driver said, "Well, where do you live?" and I said, "In Winslow." And he says, and he teasingly said, "Where's Winslow?" and I panicked. And finally, I told them that, I said, "Well, I have a sister up at the high school, so he dropped me off at the high school. And Miss Allison, my, one of my sister's teachers, brought me home. So that was my first experience with school. I was in the, I went through kindergarten through fourth grade with many of my classmates that I graduated with eventually, and so we had some real good memories. I had a wonderful teacher in kindergarten and in the first few grades on Bainbridge Island.

It was, it was hard leaving the island, but because I was only nine, I said, "Oh boy, I get to get on the ferry and go to Seattle and get on a train." And the train ride was everything I expected, it was very nice. And of course, when we got to camp, it was very windy and dusty and we had to jump over trenches because they were still building the camp. But I, a lot of my,a couple of my classmates would write to me, and so I kept in touch with some of my friends. And then from there, we went... let's see, in camp, then most of our, most of the Bainbridge people left Manzanar to go to Minidoka, and my father said that he would not move again because he was tired of moving. So we stayed back in Manzanar and we met a lot of nice new friends that moved into the block. In fact, many of the people who moved into the block were bachelors from California and around, and they, they had lots of time on their hands and so they did a lot of woodworking projects. And they built some beautiful cabinets, and, I don't know, a variety of things. And they, and I know they made one for my mother, and I still have it -- it's sitting right by my bed. So that's, those are some good memories.

As far as camp, it was very, very difficult for my brother because he was the one in charge of the family. And he, he would never speak of his experiences there or from the time the war began. And I, of course, I was told that he didn't have good memories of that period because of the, of what happened. He then met and married Chiz Matsuno from Glendale and they went to Chicago. And then the rest of the family went one by one, as soon as they finished school or whatever. And so when the war, just before the war ended, my mom, my dad and I went to Chicago. And my dad hated Chicago because it was too hot and humid and not, and he just remembered Bainbridge Island so he insisted on coming back. So he came back within six months and enjoyed every bit of his life on Bainbridge Island.

<End Segment 2> - Copyright © 2006 Densho. All Rights Reserved.