<Begin Segment 23>

RP: Now, were Japanese, Japanese Americans, the many folks that worked at Seabrook, were they housed in a separate area from other ethnic groups that worked in Seabrook?

SK: Well, you know, it was funny, because you bring that up... when we first moved there it was typically all Japanese people. But then later on, well, the Japanese Peruvians came, okay. And they lived in a separate area because what they had to do was expand the living area and I think that's what they did. They built more buildings. And then later on they had Estonians, Latvians, Lithuanian... all the small satellite countries of Russia immigrated over there too and worked in Seabrook. So it was kind of a mixed race type of development or community.

RP: Some folks refer to it as a global village.

SK: Yeah, okay. Well that's a good term.

RP: Well, I just stole that from somebody else.

SK: Oh yeah, yeah. It had, it had a lot of different ethnic groups.

Off Camera: I'm sorry, Japanese Peruvians?

RP: Yeah, Japanese Peruvians, we don't know exactly if they came out of a camp or a lot of them lived or were brought into the country and were incarcerated at Crystal City which was an internment camp run by the Justice Department. So, but anyway, they were, they were recruited into Seabrook. And you actually had a good friend...

SK: Right, well, and this friend named, that one Jim Mukuyama, if I'm not mistaken, he had indicated that they were in a camp during the war. And he was a Japanese Peruvian. So I don't know where he was interned or what.

Off Camera: What was your language? What language did you share with him?

SK: No, they spoke perfect English. Yeah, it wasn't Spanish or it wasn't you know whatever. So I don't know.

RP: I want to get his name down for sure. As M-U-K-U-Y-A-M...

SK: Y-A-M-A.

RP: Jim.

SK: Uh-huh. Now, if I'm not mistaken, he moved to L.A. but I lost with him.

RP: Were you, did the family rent the housing at Seabrook or was that provided? Do you recall?

SK: I don't recall that. But I think it was provided for them, but I'm not sure. The only that probably wasn't provided, I mean if, I know that they just bought their groceries and everything else because there was a grocery store right there in Seabrook. It was a big grocery store. Like I said, whether they paid I'm not sure.

<End Segment 23> - Copyright &copy; 2011 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.