<Begin Segment 6>

RP: You mentioned that you attended Buddhist observances at the church there. Did you also attend Japanese language school?

GI: I did. I did, and I don't know how long I did it. I just learned a few of the simple katakana, you know how there's the different forms. That's the simplest. And I remember even to this day, the few that I learned, I can still, when I see them, I recognize them. But I took hiragana later, when I came out of camp. I could never retain that. I could only remember the few katakana. So I guess when you're a child, it sticks with you.

RP: Well, for some, for some kids, it was an opportunity to socialize with other kids. Was that the case with you, too? You were pretty young to...

GI: Yeah. I was young, and I think it was just expected of you that you went to Japanese school, too, besides going to your regular. But I was only in it... when I went to camp, I was thinking, I was only in about the second grade. So I don't think I went to Japanese school very long.

RP: How about other activities? Kenjinkai picnics, do you recall those?

GI: No, I don't remember kenjinkai picnics, but I remember like on Easter in Vacaville, Vacaville's got these cute little mountains. Have you ever... they're hills, and in the spring they're pretty and green. And I always used to think, "This must have reminded these Japanese people of Japan." 'Cause they're these cute little hills, they're not like those mountains in Manzanar. And they used to have Easter egg hunts there, I remember that. And I remember playing jacks and things with my friends around, but I don't remember any group activities that we did.

RP: Did you take trips outside the area at all?

GI: My aunt was in Weimar, it's a TB sanitarium, as was my cousin, brother, half brother. They were both in there, and my mom used to load us into the car and we'd go visit Weimar, take a lunch, and she'd bring us to Sacramento. And then when she had her children, my younger siblings, she always came to Sacramento to the midwife to have them.

RP: The same with you?

GI: I was born, I was born too quick. I was born in the house. She didn't make it anyplace. [Laughs]

RP: Was your, do you know if your dad was... I mean, a lot of Issei guys used to send money back to their families in Japan.

GI: I think he did send money to his mom, see, because she, her husband came and he died, and her son came. And so she lived there in Japan. And so I know that he did send money to her all those years.

RP: I know you were, what, about eight years old when Pearl Harbor was attacked, but do you have...

GI: I was, 'cause I was thinking about it, I was six. Six, 'cause I was born in '35. When was Pearl Harbor? '40?

RP: '41

GI: '41, yeah, so I was six. Did we go to camp in '42? I think so. Yeah. 'Cause I remember in '42, I was thinking I was six when we left in May, and then I turned seven in June, 'cause that was my birthday. And people tell me I remember a lot of things in Vacaville for having been that young, but I do remember. I remember all these people, and I don't know if it was 'cause my mom always talked about 'em or what, but to this day, I remember them.

RP: Who are some of those people?

GI: Oh, some of those people? Well, oh gosh, there's a whole bunch of those people. They're all gone now, but there was... and in those days, we used to call these people by their first name. So this lady, we'd call her Shige-chan, and Masako-san, or these different people. Even as children, we would call them by their first names, and I always thought that was kind of odd, that we called them by their first names. But that seemed to be the way they did it in that town. [Laughs]

RP: One other holiday that was celebrated in the Japanese community with a lot of gusto was New Year's Day.

GI: New Year's, yeah. I remember that.

RP: Do you recall any, any of your...

GI: I just remember my mom used to make all these things. And now when I think of it, she used to stay up all night cooking, and making sure everything was all done, all decorated well and everything. And my father used to go out on New Year's, Christmas Eve, I guess. No, maybe it was New Year's Eve, and fire a gun when it was the time, you know. So I was thinking, I guess he had a gun. I never knew that. But when my mom says, "Remember he used to do that?" I thought, "Well, I guess he had a gun."

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