<Begin Segment 12>

JS: Can you talk about the Clarksburg Japanese School after the war?

TS: We didn't have any.

JS: No?

TS: No. No, we didn't.

DG: Janet and her brothers didn't go to school there?

TS: No. There was no Japanese school no more, after the war. And in fact, the teacher, she, they, after the camp they went to a Japanese school in San Francisco, and they taught over there, I heard.

DG: Kinmon Gakuen.

TS: Yeah, Kinmon Gakuen.

DG: Were you a member of the Holland Doshi Kai?

TS: Yeah.

DG: When did that start?

TS: Some of the people that, few that's left decided to get together on New Year's, or once or twice a year. This year it's only one time. There's not many left, anyway. They're getting up in age.

JS: There was, when we met with the Hiromotos, they were telling us there were maybe forty families, Japanese families farming, or more, before the war, and then after the war a lot smaller number returned.

TS: Yeah.

JS: Do you remember that, like how many returned?

TS: Not too many. Yeah, they just disbanded, and the younger generation all went to town to work, like for the state or federal, working in the stores or something. There was no farmers. Younger generation, they want to take over, so it's hard work.

DG: But your husband's family -- these are the five Sakata brothers -- came back to start a business. Was their, your father-in-law also still working in the farm?

TS: Yeah, well, they used to kind of look around. They all had to, everybody had to work. But I thought they did real well. Everybody, as a whole, the Japanese, I thought they did real well. They didn't have anything when they came back. They didn't, no income, no money, and they started out with nothing, but look at the beautiful places they live in, and they're all doing good. There's nobody that's on... what is it, food, looking for food. They, I thought they all did real well after coming back with nothing. Yeah, they all worked hard.

DG: Did you have a job with the Sakata Brothers, or were you raising the kids?

TS: I was raising kids. Yeah, cooking and all that.

DG: Did they have labor camps? Where did they hire workers?

TS: Yeah, well, there used to be a labor camp here and there, and then you ask the labor contractor and they'll bring a pickup or busload of men to pick your tomatoes or whatever you got. But when the machine came out, tomato machine came out, well, you didn't need that many people no more. Yeah, the labor is so high too, so the machine did all the work.

DG: And where were most of those laborers from?

TS: They're all from Mexico.

DG: So I've seen some pictures of people picking crops here in Clarksburg during the war, and they look Mexican.

TS: Yeah.

DG: So I wondered whether, did you hear about who was doing the farming here when you were gone?

TS: Yeah, like the Herringers, they were farming, and they had, I think they called it Bracero, and they were all Mexicans, anyway, that was doing the farm work. Yeah, even now, it's all Mexican people. I don't think, like the Mexicans tell me, I don't think they could stand the heat and the dust. I don't think the other nationality could stand that. It is so hot and dusty. Yes. And that's what the Mexicans tell us, tell me. "Nobody can do work like us." Yeah, maybe. It's hard work. For the amount of money you get, you can go to town and wash cars or something, and it's cleaner and... my kids, nobody wanted to be a farmer. My oldest son is private investigation. Yeah, he went into criminology, so he's always, he was with narcotics for a long time, so now he's a private investigator. But they don't want to go out and farm, no.

DG: But then your second son came and took over, after your husband had a stroke?

TS: Yeah.

DG: Was he working for his father before?

TS: Yeah.

DG: He was.

TS: Yeah. Well, you know the, like our generation, they couldn't, they didn't get to have much education, so they had to go into farming or something like that. They couldn't do anything else. So the generation now, they get to go to school so they can go into any field they like.

Off camera: Did you ever want, did you want to go to college? Was there ever any thought like, "Oh, I'd like to do that"?

TS: Sometimes I used to think that's a good idea. So told my kids to go to school, all of 'em. Just my youngest one didn't want to go to school, but the rest all went to school.

Off camera: What would've you, what did, what would've you, what were you interested in? If you would've gone to college, what were your dreams, "I would do this"?

TS: Oh gosh, I don't know. I didn't...

Off camera: Did you like books, or did you like math? What subject was, like --

TS: I liked sewing and all that. I did a lot of that.

JS: Where did you learn to sew?

TS: My mother sewed a lot. I never got any, bought clothes because my mother was a good seamstress, and I used to wish I had a, bought clothes sometimes, dresses. But she made 'em all. Yeah, and so --

DG: My mom sewed all our clothes too.

TS: Yeah, she sewed all the clothes, even coats and everything. But, so I did a lot of sewing for Janet. She didn't get to wear bought clothes much either because I sewed, I enjoyed it. And I still -- well, right now I can't do much with poor eyesight and all that, but I'm into knitting now and I enjoy that.

DG: Did you wish that your children had learned Japanese as well as you did? Did that matter to you?

TS: No, because, well, you know the first generation, they're fading away and even if you learned, they wouldn't have a chance to read and write. I don't know how they got -- like Janet goes to Japan, she likes it over there. And how she, well, she's not, compared to the other brother she can speak pretty good. It'll pass. And my second son too, he went too and he liked it over there. But when you don't have anybody over there no more, you don't care.

<End Segment 12> - Copyright © 2012 Densho and Preserving California's Japantowns. All Rights Reserved.