Densho Digital Archive
Manzanar National Historic Site Collection
Title: Sadako Nimura Kashiwagi Interview
Narrator: Sadako Nimura Kashiwagi
Interviewer: Kristen Luetkemeier
Location: San Francisco, California
Date: July 11, 2015
Densho ID: denshovh-ksadako-01-0013

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KL: Are there other parts of... we've talked a little bit about your barrack and a little bit about school and your accident. Are there other parts of Tule Lake that you remember outside of Block 45 or outside of the school? Like was there a park or anyplace that you spent extra time?

SK: No, there were firebreaks, and shell jewelry was really, really big, so we'd dig up the firebreaks and get the shells and take it to people who were creative and made shells. And then there was, baseball, of course, was big. In fact, there's a book called Baseball Saved Us, you know that book? So I don't remember, there was a certain amount of basketball, but I remember baseball.

KL: Did you have a team that you followed or anything?

SK: Well, my brothers were on baseball teams. My younger brother Taku was a catcher for the younger team, and then my older brother, I think he was an outfielder. Interesting enough, his grandsons are really into baseball. And, in fact, one grandson was, this was over in Lafayette, and he made all-league, and he made all-league MVP. So they're real big on baseball. Hiroshi's brother was real big on baseball. He could have probably played pro in Japan.

KL: How many people would go to the baseball games?

SK: It was a big event, I mean, everybody would, you know. It was the same with the firebreaks, they had leagues. Pacer... Pacers, I think, Block 45 Pacers or something like that. So they would be the blocks or whatever, but yeah, baseball was huge.

KL: Did you ever attend judo events or tournaments, or was judo a big deal?

SK: No, no. To this day I'm not interested in judo. Although my father was a judoist.

KL: Did he study it in Tule Lake or teach at all?

SK: [Shakes head].

KL: How else did you spend your time? Were you part of any clubs?

SK: Well, we played a lot of card games, Go Fish, checkers, Annie-Annie-Over, do you know that game?

LK: I've heard other kids, or people who were kids in the camps talk about it.

SK: Oh, and cat's cradle. I learned to embroider in camp, in fact, I still have the embroidery thread I got from the catalog. I'll probably donate to Tule Lake.

KL: Who taught you?

SK: I don't remember. I don't remember learning. Oh, and another thing, when packages came, I was the one who went to get it at the central post office, and that was miles and miles away. And again, contact with the military, because they went through it, take anything, confiscate anything. So I remember that.

KL: So your mail had been looked through, and your remember that it had been opened?

SK: Yeah. Well, in fact, he'd open it when I went to pick up the package. They'd open it right there and go through, make sure none of it was... and I think letters that came from my father.

KL: What do you remember about him returning? What was it like to have him back?

SK: Of course, we were very happy. But he behaved himself. [Laughs]

KL: Oh, really? His demeanor was different when he came back?

SK: Yeah. And he used to walk around with a stick, and he didn't tell us until later that he did it for... apparently if he had to, he would have fought with it, and having Jiro, too.

KL: Who was he worried about?

SK: Different elements in camp. Those who were pro-Japanese and those who were anti-Japanese. And so he was just protecting his back.

KL: Yeah. What about in Santa Fe? Did he ever talk about the threat of violence in Santa Fe?

SK: Well, he talked about it, but again, I'm really sorry I didn't ask him about it, but he used to talk to my brother-in-law about it. My brother-in-law was a Kibei, Neesan's husband was a Kibei, and so he was already in the army when the war broke out. And so he got basic training, and he was sent to Florida and he was to be deployed to Europe. And someone knew of his Japanese background, so he was sent to Fort Snelling to teach Japanese.

KL: Oh.

<End Segment 13> - Copyright © 2015 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.