<Begin Segment 15>

MN: Okay, before I started to get into your Berkeley years, I want to go back to your childhood a little bit more. Can you tell me how involved your family was in the Nagano Kenjinkai?

KM: Yeah. My folks were really outgoing, 'cause they used to work so hard, I guess, mostly trying to make a living. But in Nagano prefecture kenjinkai, I don't think, I can't recall my dad taking a position as one of the sponsors or officers of the kenjinkai. So they were, what do you call it, helpers, but not leaders of that kenjinkai association.

MN: Did the kenjinkai have an annual picnic?

KM: Oh, yeah. I used to go... in fact, I guess since Nagano was such a small prefecture that they didn't have any -- they used to have their picnics the same time as Hiroshima or Kumamoto or Fukuoka, and we used to be sort of on the outskirts outside of the big kenjinkais' picnic. I think they probably used to pay the kenjinkai for the opportunity to be associated in that, for the prizes and for the entertainment probably.

MN: Now, what kind of food did your mother make for the obento to take to the picnics?

KM: Oh, she used to make the regular bento, sushi and your... and the various, what do you call it, goodies, the kind of stuff that they used to make for picnics. She used to do the same thing.

MN: Teriyaki...

KM: Yeah, teriyaki beef and chicken, and some vegetables that... sato imo, you name it. They had their favorite dishes, I guess.

MN: What were some of the favorite dishes from Nagano-ken?

KM: Oh, there was nothing in particular that I can remember that being strictly a Nagano-ken. Nagano-ken is more or less noted for their soba. 'Cause I guess being in the country and farmers, they grew a lot of buckwheat.

MN: How about the undokai? what kind of activities did they have for the undokai?

KM: Undokai? You mean at picnics?

MN: Uh-huh.

KM: Oh, just to keep the kids and stuff like that, I guess, in line. They have these races and they give out various prizes, so keeps the kids all tied up in that. So when they're smaller, it's okay, but I guess as they grew older, it was a little different.

MN: Did you win a lot of prizes in these?

KM: No, I didn't win anything. I was too slow. [Laughs]

MN: Did the Nagano Kenjinkai have separate smaller picnics?

KM: No, most of the time it was associated with the bigger ones so that it'd be more or less more fun. I mean, if you had a smaller picnic, they had to do a lot of the work, I guess, for the same number of people as the big ones.

MN: But you were mentioning that sometimes you went to San Gabriel River?

KM: Yeah. I remember when I was a kid, we used to... in fact, it was the days of the Model... my dad and I, Model T Ford which would be in the late '20s, I guess, that we used to go to the San Gabriel River for picnics. And there was maybe a picnic, well, it wasn't a kenjinkai or anything like that, but a few of the family friends get together and go down there and do little fishing, little fishes.

MN: Did the Nagano Kenjinkai organize any other events?

KM: No, they weren't very... leaders in the whole Japanese kenjinkai association, I guess. 'Cause they were too small.

<End Segment 15> - Copyright © 2011 Densho. All Rights Reserved.