<Begin Segment 13>

JS: So what other activities happened... when you performed biwa, you performed at the theater, right? Was it called...

RN: Yeah, I played the biwa, but this is Fujinkai.

JS: This is the Fujinkai.

RN: Yeah.

JS: So the community had lots of performances, and there was a special theater?

RN: Yeah, they used to have...

JS: A Japanese theater. And what was the name of the theater, do you remember?

KN: Cal Theater?

RN: Yeah.

JS: That was Cal Theater. So you --

KN: That was a movie house, though, too, right?

RN: Yeah.

KN: But you could also see stage plays there, too?

RN: Yeah.

JS: Wow. So you used to perform, did you used to go watch the entertainment, too, watch the shows, plays they had? Okay. And you continued to study biwa, and you...

RN: Yeah, until I got older, then I quit.

JS: Right. But you achieved your teaching status, right? Natori.

RN: Uh-huh.

JS: Uh-huh, did you have to go to Japan for that?

RN: Uh-uh.

JS: No, for the certification?

KN: Remember, you went to San Francisco.

JS: Oh, okay. Do you still play? You could still play the biwa?

RN: Huh?

JS: Can you still play?

RN: No, uh-uh.

JS: You haven't played in a long time? [Laughs]

KN: You should break it out.

JS: Yeah, you should play for your grandkids. What other activities do you remember, this is kind of hard to see.

RN: Oh, we used to go to Herndon River, picnic. Just the family, yeah.

JS: Family picnic? So did you used to swim in the river?

RN: Uh-huh.

JS: Wow. And what else happened at the picnic? Did you have entertainment? Is that the same thing, or is that something different? [Referring to photograph]

KN: It's just, to me, a funny picture of everybody.

JS: And they look like they're having a good time. Do you remember that?

KN: What would you have at the picnics, Mom? Obento?

RN: Bento.

KN: What kind of food? Describe to Jill things that they would make.

RN: Bento was mostly chicken, teriyaki chicken, and teriyaki beef, and then onigiri.

KN: Sake?

JS: Yeah.

KN: Yeah.

JS: Looks like lots of sake. [Laughs]

KN: Lots in that picture.

<End Segment 13> - Copyright © 2010 Densho and Preserving California's Japantowns. All Rights Reserved.