<Begin Segment 29>

KL: You talked a little bit before about establishing a Buddhist church. Tell us how that came about.

HF: Well, that came about when about four or five fellows and my husband, they were talking and they decided, "Well, we need a place for the children to go to a religious... so then they decided, well, don't write to these headquarters, headquarters are in San Francisco. And then we got enough people together, I think there was about, less than a dozen people, we got together at George Goto's home, and then that's when we first started. There must have been about eighty-seven, somewhere around there.

KL: Did the congregation, does the congregation have a name?

HF: Just... Japanese Buddhist Church? Buddhist Temple.

KL: And you said that's how you met Rose Kakuuchi?

HF: Yes, uh-huh. She's a real nice person.

KL: So you said children's religious education was kind of the main reason for it.

HF: The main reason why we started, uh-huh.

KL: Was that successful? Were you able to start classes?

HF: Yes, we had classes, they still have classes now. But it's different now, different people now. It's changed over the years. And George Goto was really a gung-ho person.

KL: Sounds like it.

HF: He got you involved in everything. And then my husband would like to be involved, too, but he didn't want to be president. He was the president one year, but he didn't like that. He would tell people what to do instead of doing it himself.

KL: Who were your ministers?

HF: We had different ministers all the time, even now. Every month we have a different one. And mostly from California. And sometimes from... let's see, did he come from Arizona? But mostly from Southern Cal, because it's cheaper to pay the fare, airfare, then give them little appreciation. So it got to be quite a bit. And so when we first started, we didn't have a temple or a church, so they stayed with us. And then at nighttime, my husband would take them to the casino if they wanted to go to the casino, but they only stayed two nights with us, but that was every month.

KL: And you were involved somehow with the Japanese American Citizens League also?

HF: Now I do. Once in a while, but not often. I go to the Buddhist church, that's every month, at the second Sunday.

<End Segment 29> - Copyright © 2013 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.