<Begin Segment 6>

KL: Did you ever go to work with your mother at Terminal Island? Did you see where she worked?

SO: Did she work in Terminal Island?

MS: Huh?

SO: I just wondered --

MS: Terminal Island, the cannery.

SO: Oh, she did? Yeah, we have a picture of that.

MS: No, we didn't go there. All I remember is when I was graduating from high school, I was in Long Beach, and the counselor told me -- probably because of the prejudice -- she told me to go get a job at the cannery. [Laughs] You know, I said, "I don't want to work in a cannery," but I kind of remembered that. And instead, I went to L.A. and got a job in an office.

KL: I just have one more question about Terminal Island and then I want to move forward. But would your dad be gone quite often on trips to Mexico?

MS: Yes, he was, because he'd come back, and he can tell (that) the kids (had grown). Yeah, he would mention how each one has grown, like that.

KL: Would he be gone for two months at a time?

SO: I don't remember.

MS: It seems like a long time.

KL: When you're a kid, yeah, especially.

MS: I can't remember how long.

KL: [Addressing others in the room] Did you guys have any questions about Terminal Island?

AL: What was the name of the cannery that your mother worked for?

SO: Van Kamp, I think.

AL: And could you talk a little bit, I mean, did she ever talk about, like, working conditions or how they were treated in the canneries?

SO: No. She just... they gossiped a lot, the women, and so she just said for us to, we always had to be on good behavior, because we don't want to bring shame to your family. Bunch of rowdy kids, we were really good. Good, good kids, because we didn't want to embarrass our parents.

AL: Just one more question. What were the names of your uncles who were in L.A.?

SO: (Kanjiro), was that his name? (Kanjiro)?

MS: I think so.

SO: It seems like it was K-A-N-J-I.

AL: Last name Sumi?

SO: Yes.

AL: And is that the one on Wall Street?

SO: Yes, on Wall Street, (Kanjiro).

AL: So that was (Kanjiro) and Rose Sumi? And the other one?

SO: What's the uncle's name that was...

MS: I know it starts with a T.

AL: We can look it up, also. Were they in Manzanar?

SO: No.

AL: What camps were they in?

SO: I don't know. Do you? Do you even know if they went to camp?

MS: I don't know that. I didn't see them at Manzanar.

SO: No, we had no one except the five... just us, without our father.

<End Segment 6> - Copyright © 2012 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.