<Begin Segment 6>

TI: Okay, so 1934, and what did you do after you graduated from high school?

TO: I went out to work for a restaurant for a while, and my dad decided to farm, an old farm, so I came back to help them out. That was hard. [Laughs] I wasn't used to that.

TI: So why did your dad decide to do a little farm now that he had his tofu factory?

TO: Well, he got sick, what do you call it? Pleurisy? He was laid out for a couple years, and so it was very for our folks.

TI: And so did he sell the tofu factory?

TO: Yes, he sold it.

TI: So what was, when you think about these days on the small farm, what was kind of like a typical day for you? When you think about the, waking up in the morning, what would you do and what was the day like, and then what was the night like?

TO: It was, you'd get up and try to help out on the farm.

TI: And how early in the morning?

TO: About six o'clock. There wasn't too much to do except work, work, that's it. [Laughs] I had a crippled sister, for one, my older sister. So I had to take care of her at the same time.

TI: And when you say, "work, work," what kind of work, or what kind of farming did...

TO: Well, it was raising cauliflower and cabbage. A little bit of, patch of strawberries. And then after maybe five years, then the war, we went into camp.

TI: But before we get there, I'm thinking, so at the end of the work day on the farm, like how long would you work 'til? So you started, you woke up around six and you started working, at what point were you finished with...

TO: About four o'clock.

TI: And then everyone would then come in and eat? Or what would you do next?

TO: Mother would teach me how to cook, of course, so it was a lot of cooking.

TI: And then after dinner, at night, what would you do?

TO: Gosh, there wasn't much to do at those days. You know, we didn't have TVs, so listened to music is about all.

TI: Do you remember playing any, any kind of games?

TO: No, no, I can't.

TI: And would you do this seven days a week or would weekends be different? Like Saturday, Sunday?

TO: Sundays, every Sunday the girls would get together, we'd go over to our friends' place, or they would come over to our place.

TI: And so when you got together with your girlfriends, what kind of things would you do?

TO: Nothing much, we just kind of gossiped. [Laughs]

TI: So during this time, was there much dating going on between girls and boys?

TO: Not much. Our parents were very strict, you know. Girls were supposed to stay home.

TI: Good.

<End Segment 6> - Copyright © 2008 Densho. All Rights Reserved.