<Begin Segment 13>

TI: And when you think back to your mother and father, I mean, having such a large family, the farm, they both worked really hard. Did you ever see them just kind of relax and have a good time before the war? Are there any times when you just saw the two of them go dancing or sing or just have fun?

EN: They went to movies sometimes, used to take us to movie. Because they had to either take us or, you know, they can't go unless we watched, watched the other kids.

TI: So these were Japanese movies?

EN: Uh-huh.

TI: And where would you go to watch Japanese movies?

EN: They called it Japantown before the...

YN: Yeah, on Union Street, end of it.

EN: Near the river, there used to be a building there. They used to show Japanese movie.

TI: Now, were these the movies that had sound, or were they silent movies with sometimes an actor to do the voices? Do you remember that?

YN: I think there was voices. Because they were sad, those days.

EN: They had good movies then, compared to now.

TI: So why do you think they were better back then? You said sad, you said better, why were the movies better, do you think?

EN: I don't know. It made sense, the movies. You know, to better the family, story about families. Lot of 'em now, they have divorces and things like that. [Laughs]

TI: Well, but then Yoshiko, you said the movies were sad, though. So what made them sad?

YN: Because they were sad stories. I was little yet, but tears came out, too, I don't know why. [Laughs] Must have been a sad story, I think.

TI: But was that always a special treat, for the family to go see a movie? And then both parents would go, too? So your mom and dad would go, and you guys would do that.

YN: I remember Dad used to take Mom for a ride to go see other people's lettuce ranches, to compare his with others. And then he got caught one time, my mother said, because he was driving so slow.

TI: Oh, because as he was driving by the fields, he would go too slow and the people would see?

YN: Uh-huh. [Laughs]

TI: Now, the relationship between your mom and dad, how would you describe that? Was it affectionate, was it more formal, or how would you describe your mother and father's relationship?

YN: Our mother was so busy that we didn't see that too much. And our father comes home late, and sometimes things don't go right, then he looks grumpy. It's kind of like a survival thing, I think, trying to put food on the table. He worked so hard.

TI: Earlier you talked about your mother always being kind, and never, sort of...

YN: Yeah. I used to see them talking to each other, and my father would be, I can still hear his voice laughing. But he couldn't do that too much because he was so busy, working hard. To this day, I don't think, no one can raise that many children. It's almost impossible.

TI: Yeah, unless you have help or something, that would be hard to imagine.

YN: But she did it all. I can't believe that.

TI: Well, and the physical toll of having thirteen children, I mean, that much have taken its toll on the body, on her body to have so many children.

YN: Yeah. But she lived until ninety-one.

TI: Wow, that's amazing. You know, the house is so, it's so stately, it's such a pretty house. Did the family ever have parties there, where they had other people come, and gatherings because the house was so nice? Did that ever happen?

EN: Just New Year's, people would come.

TI: So how about your friends, your Japanese friends from school? Did they ever comment on your house being so big, or anything like that? Did they ever make comments about the house?

EN: Not exactly. We didn't think much of it that much, you know, of it being a historic house or anything. It was a house that we all lived in. [Laughs]

TI: So you just thought of it as just a big, big old house, kind of, that you lived in?

EN: But it was nice when we moved in. Now it's run down because it wasn't painted. My mother was gonna paint it, but they told her she had to move out.

TI: And this was when? This was long after the war, you mean, she did this?

EN: What year was that? Because my brother sold it, and then they had an agreement that my mother was able to stay in that big house until she passed away.

TI: Okay. So when she was ninety or something.

EN: Yeah, close to ninety.

<End Segment 13> - Copyright ©2008 Densho and the Watsonville - Santa Cruz JACL. All Rights Reserved.