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RP: Can you share with us a little bit about the Florin community? It was primarily Japanese American grape growers and strawberry growers. Were you isolated? Did you have other farms nearby?

SK: Yeah. I remember, okay, I remember our farm was on one side of the road, and there was, well, our cousin, Bill Takeda, was across the street, and there was two other Japanese families across the street. There was a, well, I'm pretty sure it was a Caucasian family that was next to us on the farm. Down the street on Fruitridge Road I remember there were some more Japanese families, but I think there was about five or six and the rest were, I think, Caucasian. Because I know that my parents knew their... I mean, at that time, most farmers knew each other.

RP: And did you play with other kids from other farm areas?

SK: You know, that would... there weren't many kids my age, I'll put it that way, at the time that my parents were farming here. I don't remember playing, associating with other kids my age, in fact. And most of the time, I think we just hung out as a family. I did go to a place that was so, maybe, I'm going to say a mile, but it may have not been that far away. But there was a family named Ono that lived in back of us, and I used to visit their son. And he was... god, at that time, I don't know... I think he was a teenager already. And he's about the only one I remember. But I remember spending a lot of time, there used to be a creek that was behind our farm, and I'd spend a lot of time frogging and fishing. I think that's what I did a lot. The only time that I remember associating with anybody else was if I walked quite a long ways, which, you know, I didn't do. So like I said, I think it was mostly with the sisters and family.

RP: Were there particular occasions when the community would come together for a kenjinkai activity or picnics?

SK: You know, I don't remember those things. I don't remember those gatherings. I don't know why, but I may have a mental block on it, but I don't remember that. I do remember that we went to the state fair as a family. I remember going to the World's Fair at Treasure Island in I can't remember what year. I think I was about five years old.

RP: 1939?

SK: Something like that. Someplace in there and I remember getting lost. I remember they... I don't know how I got back with my parents, but I got lost, and I think that security or somebody announced it or something, I think. But I remember that.

RP: Was religion a factor in your life early on?

SK: No. [Laughs] You know, it's funny, when we got out of camp... okay, when we were in camp, I don't think we went to church or anything. When I got out of camp and went to Gardena, I think I went to a Catholic school for a while, church, I don't think I went to a church, I went to a Catholic school. I remember it was Catholic. Then as I grew up later on, I'd say I went to a Presbyterian. Those two I remember, and that was it. So religion really didn't play a big part in our lives. Because my parents never did go to Buddhist church, my grandmother and grandfather never went to a Buddhist church, and I think the reason was that they were kind of busy in the farm. I think the weekends were free, but I don't remember them going to a church.

RP: Did your father have to market his own produce? Would he have to haul it into Sacramento or other markets?

SK: You know, if I remember correctly, I think he used to bring it to the Florin railyard from where they lived. I think he had a market for the grape, and that's about all I know about that.

RP: Now, agriculture always has its cycles and ups and downs. Do you recall any stories about how your family weathered the Depression years?

SK: I remember they talked about it being fairly hard, but I don't know how, you know, they did or what they did to survive it, but they really didn't talk that much about that, either. I believe, if I had my guess or druthers, I would say they probably had a real rough time at that time. But everybody else did, too.

RP: Now there was an area of Florin, kind of a Japantown type of area, with stores and other businesses. Do you recall that area at all?

SK: In Florin? [Laughs] No, I don't remember that. Because as far as I know, Florin is so small, even to this day, that it hasn't grown from their prewar years to right now. The same buildings are still there, and I don't know how it could have had a, say, an Asian or Oriental section. It may have had, I don't remember.

<End Segment 8> - Copyright &copy; 2011 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.