<Begin Segment 7>

MN: Okay. Now, your parents, you mentioned your mother worked in the mess hall. What about your father?

SH: Well, he used to, (...) take care of the trash. 'Cause I kind of vaguely remember him being on a truck and (he worked at the mess hall too). I remember my mom working at the mess hall for sure, (my father and) my brother went out of camp (...) for sugar beets. They were able to go out to Boise, Idaho, (and) worked on the sugar beet field. (...) They went out, maybe for so many months, and then they (returned).

MN: Now, did your parents have a victory garden?

SH: Everybody had a victory garden. It's in between the barracks. That's really amazing how I still remember, I'd have to sometimes sit, stand there and watch how they irrigate. I mean, the victory gardens were beautiful. They took pride in what they planted (...) nasubi, tomatoes, (cucs) and (uris). But the irrigation (...) I'd have to (...) watch the hose so it won't get overfilled, everything grew so well. And then they had (...) beautiful flowers. So everybody had to do something to pass the time.

MN: So you know those produce that your parents made in the, their own victory garden, did they bring it to the mess hall, or did you eat it at, in the barracks?

SH: I think my mom used to make tsukemono and (tsukudani) with the uri and things like that. (They made) tsukemono (because) they wouldn't give it to you at the mess hall. (...) I don't know how much cooking they did 'cause we didn't have what you call a stove. I think they used to be like burners (...). I think everything was (cooked) in the mess hall. (...)

MN: Now, your mother became good friends with Mrs. Komika Kunitomi, Sue Kunitomi Embrey's mother. How did they get to know each other?

SH: Well, they (took) utai. My mom took singing lessons, and (...) Mrs. Kunitomi were learning from the same teacher. (...) I don't know if (the) Kunitomis are Fukuoka people too, 'cause a lot of the Isseis, they kind of stick with their own people from their own ken (...). But anyway, like I said, Mrs. Kunitomi was one of 'em, and then also Joseph Ito. (Mrs. Hitomi), his mother-in-law was also from the same singing group, so they did all these things to pass the time. I think it's great that they didn't just sit around and (do nothing). My father (took) shigin (with Ara sensei), that's another singing group (...) and my mother did utai.

MN: So both of your parents loved to sing.

SH: They (loved) to sing. But none of the kids sang. [Laughs]

MN: During the period that your parents were in camp, did you ever hear them talk about wanting to return to Japan?

SH: No.

MN: Do you remember the riots in Manzanar at all?

SH: No, I don't.

MN: What memories do you have of Christmas in Manzanar?

SH: I really don't remember, per se, but I remember we used to have a Christmas party at the mess hall, and one of the ladies, she became the Santa Claus and they put the cotton (for the beard), she was our Santa Claus. I have a picture of that Toyo Miyatake took of us with a Christmas tree (...). And I don't know if we exchanged gifts, (...) but I remember we did celebrate Christmas in the mess hall.

MN: Now, you mentioned that you had cats in Manzanar. You had two cats, right?

SH: (...) I think what it is, I may have had two cats. One died, so then another comes along, so I had another one, yeah.

MN: Now, when you left Manzanar, what happened to the cat?

SH: Well, the cat, (...) my girlfriend, she stayed in Manzanar 'cause we went out of camp early and she said, "You know, every time I used to go by your barrack, your cat was still sitting at the door waiting for you to feed it (...)." So she said every time she went by (...) she would bring something from the mess hall to feed it. (...) "That cat was waiting for you to come (...) to pick it up again (...). You never came back." (...) I felt so bad when I heard about it, had I known the cat was gonna be there, I didn't even think about taking the cat out of camp. You had to just leave everything again (...), that's how you came. Whatever you could carry, you took out again.

MN: School at Manzanar, what memories do you have of the grammar school at Manzanar?

SH: I don't remember what we learned, the subjects that was taught us (...). I remember my teacher (and) I remember this photo that we took of the class. I always have to tell my friends (about this) photo and in the first row, and at that age I didn't care for boys (...). But when you look at the photo there's space in between this boy and myself 'cause I moved the chair over a little bit. (...) They say, "Oh yeah, you didn't like boys at that age." (...) But I think my teacher's name was Mrs. Vaughn.

MN: Did you have any children of school administrators in your class?

SH: No, not in my class (...).

<End Segment 7> - Copyright &copy; 2012 Densho. All Rights Reserved.