<Begin Segment 21>

KL: Were there any other organized groups or regular activities that you guys were part of in Manzanar?

KM: Well, they went to the kenjinkai, the Ehime Kenjinkai...

KL: In Manzanar?

KM: No.

YI: Not in camp.

KM: They didn't have those, they weren't encouraged to...

YI: Gather for any kind of organization, it was discouraged.

KM: But they did things like kendo.

YI: Well, but that's the physical things, the softball...

KL: Yeah, what do you remember about kendo?

KM: I remember going to see my brother.

YI: He did it.

KM: He could do the sticks and go, "Omen, odou."

KL: What was the, do you remember what the dojo was like, what it looked like?

KM: I think it was just two apartments opened up. I don't recall. I remember going to see him, but I couldn't tell you where it was.

KL: It's kind of a mystery of Manzanar. I mean, there's not a lot of visual documentation of that.

KM: I don't think. I know my brother did it because we had the gear, all the stuff that he wore, and the stick. But other than that, I don't remember.

YI: Didn't he say he had it, the equipment?

KL: I think we do, because he brought it out of the interview and it looked like what we have in a temporary display case, and I didn't expect that at all. And so I was like, oh, I walk by that every day.

YI: Yeah. He did, I remember he did.

KL: There's a quote on one of our signs about kendo practice, and I guess the Manzanar, I think it's in the Manzanar Free Press says that when the contingent left for Tule Lake, interest in kendo just died away. And I wondered if you had any thoughts on kendo's timeline or how it was received.

KM: I don't even know what time spent... just the kids that participated.

KL: But it looked to you, or in your memory at least, it's like the inside of a barrack building.

KM: Yeah. It's just, I guess, barracks with this room here to that window.

YI: Maybe, yeah. Probably.

KL: Were you in it, too?

YI: Yeah, I went, but I don't remember it. It's just a blur. I can remember being there, though, because my brother was doing it that day or whatever it was.

KM: I think Papa taught there, too, I'm not sure.

KL: Your dad?

KM: Yeah. There was definite teachers, that they had to know the drill.

KL: Had he studied kendo before?

KM: I don't know. Like I said, nothing is that clear.

KL: Were there... do you remember mats or cushioning or any kind of furnishing or decoration?

KM: If there was anything, it'd be mats on the floor.

YI: No, because they didn't really fall on the floor, they were, you know, like dueling. I don't think you'd need a mat. In fact, because you shuffle your feet, it'd be better if it was the floor. I don't remember a mat. Maybe if you were doing sumo wrestling or something you might, but not kendo.

KM: Did they do wrestling?

YI: I don't remember anybody doing. My brother did it after the war.

KL: He did wrestling?

YI: Yeah, he did the... well, actually judo.

KL: Yeah, I hear judo was big.

YI: Uh-huh, postwar.

KL: Did you guys ever go to matches at Manzanar for entertainment or anything?

KM: I don't recall.

YI: I don't remember them doing it, yeah. Because if you had a participant in your family, you would probably go, but we didn't.

<End Segment 21> - Copyright © 2013 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.