Densho Digital Archive - Shimako 'Sally' Kitano Interview (denshovh-ksally-02-0010)

<Begin Segment 10>

AL: And the... most of the people in Block 3 were from Bainbridge Island?

SK: Yes.

AL: So I... the people who worked in your mess hall were they mostly Island people also?

SK: There were a few who worked there. I don't remember who all those people were. But it was after the Bainbridge people left that my mother went to, I think, went to work in the mess halls.

AL: Okay. Who did you socialize with before the Bainbridge people left? I mean, did you mostly socialize with people in your own block or other people?

SK: Yes, with the people in my own block.

AL And who else lived around your block?

SK: Well, basically it was Bainbridge Island people. There were a couple of... there was one family from California that I knew of. And they had a, they had a daughter about my age. And then there was, there was another family that had a daughter that was a few years older. And so when the Bainbridge people left, there were only three of us girls played together and then some others moved in.

AL: So Block 3, I've always thought is kind of an interesting location because you're next door to Block 2, which is the bachelor block. And then you're next door to 9, 10 and 11, which is the Terminal Island blocks. Do you remember any of the interactions you had either with the Issei bachelors or the Terminal Islanders?

SK: Okay, the Terminal Islanders were in Block 9. They were across from us, right next door to us, basically. And they were, they spoke a lot of Japanese. We spoke mostly English. And it wasn't too long before the Terminal Islanders and the Bainbridge Island kids got into fights, especially the younger fellows, I mean, the teenagers, I don't know... I was too young to really understand all that, but I do know that there were some fights. And I was told, but I'm not sure if that was the real reason why people from Bainbridge moved to Idaho, but I think, I really think that Bainbridge people moved to Idaho because they were, they knew the Seattle people. But the Terminal Islanders, they were... I went to school with them and they were very nice. I never had any real problems with them. I just made sure that I didn't get into trouble with any of them. [Laughs] 'Cause I heard so many stories of fights and things.

AL: And would these be like fistfights or verbal fights or gang fights?

SK: Both, I think. They had some fights, the older kids did.

AL: Do you know what they were fighting over?

SK: I don't know.

AL: Was your brother ever involved in any fighting?

SK: No, no. My brother was quite a bit older. 'Cause he's about fifteen years older than I was and he was, and he was very busy working and...

AL: And what was his job in camp?

SK: He worked as, I think as an electrician. See, he liked, he liked to do all those things and, you know, he liked his radio and things. And so he got into being an electrician and he learned a few things and then of course after the war he went into something similar to that.