<Begin Segment 4>

RP: Let's go back a little and talk about your, your experiences in Florin. Did you attend Japanese language school in addition to...

TK: Yeah. I had a couple, three years, I guess. But we only had it Saturdays, our church, Methodist church. Only reason I liked to go is I didn't have to work on the farm. [Laughs] I said, "Oh, I'll go to school." I didn't learn anything, but we learned a little bit. And our minister was real nice.

RP: Was the minister also the Japanese language school teacher?

TK: Yeah, yeah, minister and his wife.

RP: Do you remember his name?

TK: Yeah, Yonosuke Sasaki. Yonosuke is Y-O-N-O-S-U-K-E, and Sasaki, S-A-S-A-K-I.

RP: And besides learning the language, did you learn additional history about Japan or cultural customs?

TK: Not... we didn't pay too much attention, you know, just going to grammar school or whatever. But when I was, at that time, older guys were, older people, not guys, but kids were taking kendo, that's Japanese sword. And that was the thing at that time, kendo. And we all took it, I think I was in about third grade or something.

RP: How long did you pursue it?

TK: I took it three years. I took it for three years. That's the one that the teachers, they taught you how to be, obey your folks, obey the authority, all that. They pound that into the... they didn't pound it, but they were strict.

RP: Emphasized it in kendo.

TK: Yeah.

RP: And who was the kendo teacher?

TK: God, I can't even remember that teacher. I know he was a short man, but I can't remember his name. Maybe later on it might come.

RP: What do you remember most about taking kendo, Tommy?

TK: Well, when we put that armor on and go at each other in that, sometimes they missed, they hit you on the bare arms. You can't cry, you just have to bear it and just keep at it. But the hardest thing is when you have to sit on your knees, you know. You don't dare say anything, you just sit there. That hurt. But it was interesting, though. But they were pretty strict about... says, "Be kind to your folks," that part.

RP: So you learned, sort of, values and things like that.

TK: Yeah, yeah. They were real strict. But it's not like a lot of people thought about the national whatever, the Japanese...

RP: Kendo was misinterpreted by...

TK: Yeah, yeah. It was a sport.

RP: ...authorities.

TK: 'Cause a lot of people thought, "Oh, they taught you how to be a Japanese military or whatever," no. You know, you're little kids, they're not going to teach you all that. But they taught us mostly about our parents, older people.

[Interruption]

RP: Would you compete against other teams from other parts of...

TK: Oh, yeah. They came from all over.

RP: Where?

TK: At that time, they had, they used to have tournaments, they come from all over, from San Francisco. And we used to go to San Francisco, Kezar Stadium.

RP: Kezar Stadium?

TK: Yeah, at that time they had Kezar Stadium, so we went out there. Go through all the, at first, go through the regular attention and all that stuff, and then they go to tournament and all that.

RP: Where else did you travel?

TK: That's about it. It was right after the Depression, so you didn't go too far. But the parents scraped up enough money for, had buses, rent a bus and go, yeah.

RP: So those were some of your earliest trips as a kid, going out of the area?

TK: Yeah.

<End Segment 4> - Copyright © 2008 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.