<Begin Segment 4>

JS: Okay. So what I was asking is, the plays that you were in for the Methodist church, so what type of play was that? Was it like a Christmas pageant?

DM: (Yes), it's like a... well, it's not only Christmas program, but variety of...

JS: Variety?

DM: Yes. So it was, oh, different type of thing.

JS: And would you perform at the Japanese theater or...

DM: (Yes), at that stage.

JS: At the theater stage. What other activities do you remember affiliated with the Methodist church?

DM: At the church?

JS: Uh-huh, what did you participate in with the church?

DM: Not too many things.

JS: Not too many?

DM: But we used to perform for the other talent show. It doesn't have to be Methodist, but Walnut Grove, you know, they have, every now and then they have group does something. Same old instructor, her name was Marge Kawamura, she's the one that picked me every time to perform, (yes).

JS: Okay. So she was the director and then she would give you guys a script, and you would perform for the talent show.

DM: So when we went to the camp, Amache camp, we performed the same program that we did in Walnut Grove.

JS: Wow.

DM: She made us do that.

JS: So you're an aspiring young actor. [Laughs]

DM: Good thing it was an already-made speech, so I didn't have to worry about what to say.

JS: Oh, that's great.

TI: At the Methodist church, did you have Sunday school?

DM: Yes, Sunday school.

TI: And so describe that, the service and the Sunday school. How did that work on Sundays? Did you go to church first and then Sunday school, or Sunday school... how did that work?

DM: Yes, we had a service first and then they had a Sunday class. Just two stories, so they have a service on the downstairs, and then upstairs was a classroom.

TI: And so I'm sure they talked about religion. Did they ever talk about, sort of, like, American values or anything like that during Sunday school?

DM: No...

TI: You don't remember anything like that?

DM: Mostly about religious stuff, that's all.

TI: And who were the teachers at Sunday school? Who taught you?

DM: Oh, god. Most of the residents, older, older ladies. And the minister was Japanese.

<End Segment 4> - Copyright (c) 2009 Densho and Preserving California's Japantowns. All Rights Reserved.