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RP: What do you remember most about your mother?

LK: You mean before the war or after?

RP: Before the war.

LK: Before? I remember, like I say, she was sick a lot. But my mother was a very creative woman. She wrote poetry, haiku, she was very good at it. But the thing I remember was that she was sick. I think the farmland was too much for her maybe, or maybe having too many children, I don't know, but she was sick a lot. In fact, one year, I think it was sixth grade, I didn't go to school for most of the year because I had to help. Because I have a handicapped sister, and I had to help with her, and my mother was ill.

RP: Your mother also had a musical background, too.

LK: Yes, she played the koto, and she also had a shamisen. I don't remember if she really played it. I think her life was more children and work and being ill, I don't remember her playing. Although she wanted to teach me how to play the koto.

RP: And how did you feel about that?

LK: I didn't want to learn to play the koto.

RP: Why?

LK: I'd rather play the piano. I didn't want to have anything to do with the koto. [Laughs] Of course, in hindsight, I think that was a mistake, I should have learned to play the koto. But I didn't want to learn anything that had Japanese connotations.

RP: You wanted to express your Americanism.

LK: Yeah, I wanted to be Americanized, I wanted to play the piano. [Laughs]

RP: What were some of the values that your parents instilled in you or tried to instill in you when you were growing up?

LK: Well, I think maybe that, of course, they always stress education. We always did our homework, more than prepared. My uncle, Tomiko's father, had given us a set of the Book of Knowledge, which was a multi-volume set, and that was our pride and joy. We enjoyed looking at it, we read it from cover to cover almost. Of course, this was before television, and the long winter days, we would read the Book of Knowledge. So we always liked to read, and the county had a bookmobile that came around, and we used to always go to the bookmobile, and we'd always have books to read. So I think we, I think one of the things they stressed was education. Also, I think they stressed family, you know, helping each other was important, especially I'm the oldest, so I always try to help my younger brothers and sisters. So family was important.

<End Segment 4> - Copyright © 2010 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.