<Begin Segment 3>

LD: On some level it's absurd, except that it was very destructive.

HS: And it was hard on us all of us because, you know, we were the victims.

KK: I always felt bad for Hana because, I'm sure life could be different.

LD: You always what?

KK: I always felt bad about my sister Hana because she had to jump in and be kind of the head of the household, the family, because my father wasn't there, my brothers, the older brothers weren't there, so she was the oldest, and therefore took on the responsibility for all the rest of us. And she still does. [Laughs] Everybody looks to her as the head of the household, head of the family. I just feel that life would have been a lot different for her.

LD: You felt that at the time, too?

KK: Oh, yeah.

LD: How old were you?

KK: Ten, eleven, twelve. Those were my formative years, and I was in Crystal City.

LD: What did you think at that time about Hana and what she was doing?

KK: I always felt bad about it. I was very proud of her, of course, and I loved her very much, but I just felt, too bad that things were so strained that she had to have so many responsibilities and people to have to care for and look after and provide for in the long times.

LD: That happened to a lot of the older sisters, you know of other sisters...

HS: In fact, there are a lot of people who are still doing that, you know, taking care of their parents.

LD: That's what happened to the sisters. What happened to the mothers, or what happened to your mother during this time?

HS: Well, she did the best she could. Mother tried her best to keep the family together, and to keep up the morale. In spite of the fact that here she was with all these little children to have to look after, she was still active in helping other ladies, and that was really remarkable. She was always willing to lend a hand and help other people, and she was always cheerful. That's one thing about my mother, she was really, really... it was a trait that a lot of the Issei mothers didn't have. And she tried to help organize to keep the ladies together. She was really a wonderful person.

<End Segment 3> - Copyright © 1985 The Center for Educational Telecommunications and Densho. All Rights Reserved.