<Begin Segment 9>

JS: So can you tell me a little bit about mochitsuki and New Year's Day celebrations in Isleton?

BK: Oh, yeah, yeah. We did it in our garage, and maybe twelve families. And then we liked it when it was the Washizus' turn, 'cause they're Aichi-ken, and they don't make little patties like we do. Theirs, all you had to do was put in the pan. And I said, "Don't you make it into little patties?" And she said, "No, you put it in the pan, and then when it gets just right, then they just cut it." And I said, I told my mom, I said, "Why don't we do that instead of making those little patties?" And I guess in Japan, too, they have different kens doing different things. It's just like when I got married, I said, "God, they, like Kumamoto eat everything salty." Then you marry into a Wakayama, and they eat everything sweet. [Laughs]

JS: So in Isleton, where were most of the people from? Were there a lot of people from Kumamoto?

BK: There were a lot of people from Kumamoto and Hiroshima.

JS: Hiroshima.

BK: Yeah. Not too many from other places.

JS: So do you think that's why the Fujimoto family came to Isleton?

BK: I don't know how they heard about it or...

JS: Not sure?

BK: Yeah. I tried to talk to my brother, but his, he'll be ninety next April, and he can't remember a lot of things, either. He has Parkinson's. But I just went and talked to everybody and anybody, and went to the stores and see what they did. And then like I remember when my brother was making a boat out of those fish crates, and somebody accidently knocked a gallon of tar, hot tar on his feet, and so I don't know why but I went to this place where he got the box and gave 'em hell for giving him the box.

JS: So he was making a boat to float in the river?

BK: Yeah, uh-huh.

JS: Oh. But he got tar on his feet, so he was injured. Did he ever complete that boat?

BK: Yes. They all, the guys all helped make him so he can ride in it. But he got discharged from the army because they couldn't fit shoes. Because his toes are... yeah. But you know, like in Isleton, I used to tell my friends, I said, "Go to the garage shop and see what they do, how they change tires." So I guess I was, I guess I wanted to know, and I guess I was curious so I know.

<End Segment 9> - Copyright (c) 2009 Densho and Preserving California's Japantowns. All Rights Reserved.