Densho Digital Archive - Tom I. Mine Interview (denshovh-mtom

<Begin Segment 9>

TI: Let's talk a little bit about the Japanese community now. Like was there, did you attend Japanese school?

TM: Yeah, I did, but I was... the Japanese school was held after, after we finished high school or grade school. But then I was in, I liked sports, so I didn't attend too much. I didn't have a chance. It was too much because I had to play a sport, and after that I had to go Japanese school, and then I lived about two miles outside. So I'd be home midnight -- not midnight, but late. So that was too much, so I just quit Japanese school.

TI: Now when you did that, what did your parents say? Did they...

TM: Well, they didn't say anything.

TI: So they were okay with you doing sports over Japanese school?

TM: Yeah, because I said I liked sports, you know. That's pretty hard to take away from me. I'm doing what I liked to do, so I enjoy it so they, my father felt, well, that's okay, if you enjoy it, love it, that's fine.

TI: Did your mother or father ever come watch you play?

TM: No, in those days, they didn't. I always watch my kids play, but in those days, Issei parents, very seldom you saw, unless you're right in, lived right in town. Because they lived, and they didn't drive, and I didn't drive yet because I was still going to school. So, you know, there's no way for them to get to the, come into town.

TI: So how about, like, Japanese community events? Like were there big picnics or things like that?

TM: Oh, yeah, we had a yearly picnic, that was large. I mean, everybody got together, we used to have it at the beach, at the beach. They kind of shifted around locations.

TI: So where would the beach location be?

TM: Down to Sunset Beach or down, nearby. We had a few spots.

TI: And how many people would be there?

TM: Oh, couple of hundred or more. You know, it was a big crowd.

TI: And what kind of things would you do?

TM: Oh, they had games, running. And they also had a little sumo.

TI: Oh, so right on the beach they would form a, a ring or something?

TM: Yeah, yeah, they just... that was, Issei liked sumo, so some parents had some strong boys, so they had sumo, too.

TI: So did you ever try sumo?

TM: No, no.

TI: So who would be the sumo wrestlers? Were they, like, bigger than...

TM: Well, they were bigger, they're built close to the ground, and you know, they're rugged. They played football in high school.

TI: So they must have been the linemen.

TM: Yeah, linemen.

TI: Okay. Oh, that would've been fun to watch.

TM: Yeah, it was fun.

TI: And generally when would the picnics start, and how late would it go?

TM: I think it started right after the rainy season, March, April, I think, before the season got busy, you know. Because most of the Issei farmers were berry-growers. I was a lettuce grower, so we had a season... as soon as it got dry, we had to go ahead and plant, then we'd harvest.

TI: And what were some of the foods you could remember from the picnic, the annual picnic?

TM: Oh, nothing like good musubi. [Laughs] And the folks did the cooking, so teriyaki and musubi. It was fun; I enjoyed it.