<Begin Segment 18>

JW: You were mentioning something about Manzanar, about something else going up there the last couple years?

KL: Yeah, we're writing the new exhibits to go into the barrack buildings, and the barrack buildings are new, too, we have replica barracks.

JW: Oh, okay. I'd like to go back there.

KL: It makes an impact on people to see what living conditions were like and what daily life was, you know, something about what daily life was like. There's a replica guard tower also, and a mess hall that's historic, but we moved it to Manzanar from Bishop Airport.

JW: Oh, is that right?

KL: Yeah, but it's like the ones that people used in Manzanar. So students especially, but visitors can get a little bit of a feel for what it was like to live at Manzanar.

JW: You know, when we were there a couple years ago, aside from that Manzanar, around the corner in the back, something, another exhibit was, a museum. Was that for the Indians?

KL: Well, there's a museum in the town of Independence, it's called the Eastern California Museum, and it has a lot of Paiute and Shoshonean baskets, which are the native people in that valley.

JW: That would have been interesting.

KL: And then there's an exhibit about Manzanar also in there, that was put together in the 1970s by a man named Shi Nomura who was held at Manzanar.

JW: Oh, Shi, we used to shop at his market.

KL: Oh, really?

JW: He had a, it used to be called Shi's Fish Market, right on Brookhurst in Garden Grove there. And that's where we went for a lot of our Japanese foods. And his wife still sings, Mary. Isn't that something? She can still sing, I can't believe it. And he passed away, didn't he? And he moved to Independence?

KL: No, they never moved there, but Shi created this exhibit. So they used to come up there a lot, and Mary still comes sometimes to the pilgrimage and stuff.

JW: Is that right? Oh, I thought he moved up there.

KL: I don't think so. I could be wrong.

JW: I'll be darned.

KL: We've kind of raced through this, but are there other things that you wanted, that you kind of expected to talk about today or thought were important to report?

JW: No. It's a good thing that... I would say it's a good thing. You know, when I was, when Richard was in Korea, I stayed with my brother, he didn't charge me anything. So all the money that Richard had sent to me I saved and we were able to put a big down payment on this house. I often am very thankful for my brother.

KL: I enjoyed spending the morning with them.

JW: Although my three brothers that have passed away... there's only Shig and myself now. And Shig is doing real good. I guess you know he had cancer, but he's doing real good and I'm so happy. He's such a dear brother, he's my youngest brother. He's got a heart full of gold and passion, he's got love in his heart, I just love that, he cares. Because I remember when we went, when I went to Japan to join Richard, oh, it was at the L.A. train station, he was there and he just hugged me and I hugged him. He's just a loving man, and I'm glad that he has Frances, 'cause Frances is very intelligent. She's on the ball, she's on the ball, I tell you.

KL: 'Cause she's the person that I called to ask if she would agree to be interviewed --

JW: Oh, I asked her about that.

KL: -- and she's the way that we come to be talking to each other today, and she convinced Shig to be interviewed too, and she was part of that interview. So I appreciate her that she's responsible for a lot of today and for your stories being recorded and being part of this project.

JW: I think she was a lot younger than I was. Yeah, she's only about eighty, she's about ten years younger than I am. Yeah, she was a little... if I can't remember, she can't either. And a lot of things I do not remember.

KL: Well, your memories are very different. It's good to talk to people of different ages, different backgrounds, different personalities, 'cause everybody's very different.

JW: You know, I have hearing aids, that's my downfall. You know, in church and all, and even in the church and all that, you got to... you need good hearing aids so you don't go deaf.

KL: You mentioned... I brought up Shi Nomura and that kind of sparked something. Are there any other people that you want to mention from either Rohwer or Manzanar or other caps, people who are in Orange County but have connections to the camps or to the pilgrimages or anything that you want to mention?

JW: No, except I ran into a friend not too long ago, we used to have a... she lived in Block 16. I don't know if she remembers me, she didn't seem like she did. But anyway, we would have horseshoe tournaments, and she and her sister and another guy would come over in our block and we'd play horseshoe throwing. Can't even lift a horseshoe now. [Laughs]

KL: That was in Block 1, those tournaments?

JW: Block 1, Block 16. Yeah, them days, those days. Things like that, people never mention. You hear a lot about the sad things of camp, but you know, there are happy times, too, even though you were in camp. It had to be. You got to give, forget the thought that that's where you are, you've got to do what you can.

KL: Are there other fond memories that you have from Rohwer?

JW: No.

KL: Well, thank you for this.

JW: Well, I enjoyed talking to you.

<End Segment 18> - Copyright © 2014 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.