<Begin Segment 6>

RP: So you had a school in Cortez, or did you go out of the area?

SY: Well, that was a Japanese school. Our English school was 3 miles down the road, right next, or right adjoining, or not too far from the Santa Fe railroad. So it was 3 miles. So we used to walk the railroad all the way down to the school and back. Until my brother was going to high school and he used to bring the school bus home and we'd ride with him afterwards. He was the school bus driver. He was a student driver, but for the Livingston high school district. Yeah.

RP: And how far was Cortez from Livingston?

SY: I would say three... Livingston must be... maybe 12 miles, somewhere around there.

RP: Uh-huh. Now Livingston was unique because it was kind of a planned irrigation community or a farming community that was...

SY: Well, farming community's almost identical to Cortez. They had their own cooperative. And Cortez has a... I think probably the oldest cooperative in California.

RP: Is that so?

SY: So, I kind of think that. And it's called the Cortez Growers Association. It used to be all Japanese membership, but now it's all, the other people in the community all belong to it. And they ship millions and millions of dollars of almonds to the almond growers association through that entity right there. They have their own machines that would pick up, also to dry, and they have company that do the transportation from there. Yeah. They have quite a facility there.

RP: So traditionally it was strictly a Japanese farming community?

SY: Yes, it was. Yes, it was.

RP: Like the Yamato colony at Livingston?

SY: Yes. Right, right. Yeah.

<End Segment 6> - Copyright © 2008 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.