Densho Digital Archive - Ko Nishimura Interview (denshovh-nko-01-0007)

<Begin Segment 7>

KL: You mentioned that he was in Missoula and I think Santa Fe, right?

KN: That's what it was, right.

KL: Was he anywhere else, what do you know about the chronology of his experience over those years?

KN: Oh, when he got arrested, they took him down to Terminal Island, that was the federal penitentiary. And then from there he went to a couple other places, I guess. Eventually he got triaged over to Missoula.

KL: Did he ever say, either later or, I assume not in the letters since they were so heavily censored, but did he say what his days were like in Terminal Island or in Missoula or in Santa Fe?

KN: No, he never said anything. He did tell me... it was really funny, he says Santa Fe was a pretty open camp because it's all desert. So he says, one days he says they wanted to eat eel or something, so they went out to the Rio Grande and they found something that was sort of snaky. The brought it back and they were going to cook it, they said, "Hey, wait a minute, these got legs on it," and so they threw 'em away. It was a humorous story. They went, oh boy, we get to eat some Japanese food. And then he was saying this really laughing, he would have tears in his eyes when he'd tell us. They got these wiggly legs sticking out. And he goes, "Hey, eels don't have legs, I'm not eating that." So that was a humorous story.

KL: Was he any different when he came back to your family?

KN: He always was a leader, you know, so he immediately got... I think he immediately got like the block leader, of Block 35. So they took over Block 35. He picked up where he left off kind of a thing.

KL: Yeah, so he still remained real community minded and had a sense of humor.

KN: Yeah, so mentally he was okay, I think. I'm sure there was resentment, but he never showed it.

KL: Were there other significant people in your life who were part of those early arrests, or do you remember anything else like what happened to your...

KN: Well, you know, like the Hatas were from our extended family. I said George Iwamoto and his mom and dad lived in the next barrack, since we played together. I think George donated a picture of a painter out of Manzanar.

KL: He might have. I mean, Iwamoto is a really familiar name to me, but I can't tell you why, if he's part of our oral history collection or donation or what.

KN: He said he was going to donate.

KL: He may have.

KN: And I got a copy of that. You look at the picture, it's his father doing something. His mom watered the plant in the front, George is playing, and I'm in the picture. That's why he gave me a copy.

KL: It's a photograph?

KN: No, it's a painting, watercolor.

KL: Oh, cool. I'll have to look for that.

KN: I got a copy of it, and he made sure I got a copy of it.

KL: Yeah. Maybe, if you would, it'd be great to give me a copy so I can identify it and make sure that's in the notes.

KN: Yeah, the kid in the front, that's me. As a matter of fact, he took a clear picture and he just put the silhouette, and he labeled them one, two, three, four, whatever it was, and this is me, this is George, this is Dad, this is Mom.

KL: Who painted it?

KN: I'm not sure. But I do remember there was a painter named Takamura in camp, he might have been the one. I know he was always painting, I've talked to him, he's painting, you wonder what he's painting, and people come up and ask him, he'll talk to you. But I think there was a painter named Takamura.

KL: Yeah, his first name's Kango, and he was in Santa Fe, too, for a while.

KN: No, he can't be then. He was in Santa Fe?

KL: Yeah, but I don't know when or for how long. He was in Santa Fe and Manzanar.

KN: So he went from Santa Fe to Manzanar.

KL: I presume, I think that's right, I'm not positive.

KN: Because I know Mr. Takamura was in camp later on because I remember him more vividly when I was older, must have been five or six when I used to talk to him.

KL: My guess, and it's just a guess, is that he came to Manzanar sometime in 1943, but it's a guess.

KN: Yeah, I think so, because... that sort of crept out of my mind.

KL: Oh, that's neat.

KN: Oh, there's an artist that I remember.

KL: What was he like?

KN: I don't know. When you're a young man and you talk to older guys like him, they're very kind. They talk to you, because in camp you had time, so they talked to you.

KL: Yeah. A painting of his -- we're redoing the brochure at Manzanar, and there's going to be a Kango Takamura painting that's the main background.

KN: Yeah, he was a good painter.

KL: He was a beautiful painter.

KN: I know he was a good painter, but that's my encounter with Mr. Takamura.