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LP: What were holidays, I mean, what were the holidays that were celebrated or what were they like, do you remember at all?

RM: Didn't celebrate holidays. The other day somebody said, "Halloween, did you ever wear a costume?" I said, "We didn't have trick-or-treating or things like that in camp." I never wore a costume. I can't remember... see, I can't remember ever having a birthday party until my sixtieth birthday. I can't remember having... we have Christmas dinners, a Christmas party. Well, in a farm, you really don't have it, but in camp, I don't remember having parties, Christmas or that kind of parties in camp. I can't remember that. And the people I used to hang around with, we would have dances and things like that, but having what I'd call a real party, I can't ever remember having one.

LP: Spiritually, religiously, did your family believe or practice anything in particular, were there any services or anything in camp?

RM: Yeah, not really. When I was in Tule Lake, my mother used to make me go to a church. The first year in Tule Lake, no Buddhist services at all. We had Christian churches, so she would make me go. But I was not a very good kid, Sundays. Because Sundays were the days that we would play softball, and I really wanted to play softball. And I tell people this one story. One day we were playing softball and I was the pitcher. And she made me go to church, so I walked very, very slow to go to church. And I got there, and the door was closed. So I didn't go in, so I came back home. My mother said, "What happened? You didn't go in?" I said, "Oh, the door was closed." [Laughs] She said, "Why didn't you go?" and I said, "The door was closed, that's why I didn't go in." She got mad at me, so I said, "I want to go watch the game." She said, "No, you can't," and she made me stay home. But she didn't make me go. And you know, I could never remember the Lord's Prayer when I was going to camp. But you know what? When I went to church, I was about fifty-five years old, I went in there, darn it, I knew the Lord's Prayer. I never knew I knew it, but word for word I could... surprised the heck out of me. Well, I'm a Buddhist. I returned back to my parents' religion. My mother was Buddhist. And now I realize why there were no Buddhist services during the first year. All the Buddhist ministers in the Justice camps, that's why.

LP: Do you remember... someone I got in touch with is the son of someone who's a reverend at Tule Lake. And at the pilgrimage event this past year there was an event to go up to Castle Rock, and there's a plaque there and everything. Do you remember, by chance, anybody, I know you were a kid, you weren't really interested in church, so probably didn't matter, but do you remember anyone that was affiliated with any of the churches when you were at Tule Lake?

RM: No.

<End Segment 8> - Copyright © 2014 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.