Densho Digital Archive - Henry Nakano Interview (denshovh-nhenry-01-0031)

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RP: So how did you get involved in these reunions? How long have you been... you've been going to every reunion since they started?

HN: Well, Bruce Kaji and I grew up together in Boyle Heights before the war. He and, he and I were, when we were children we used to play together, baseball, track, Roosevelt High School. He lived right across the street from Roosevelt High School. We used to jump the fence onto the field. And then my one recollection of Bruce Kaji is we were playing in his driveway and I hit the baseball and broke his window. And I ran all the way home. He says the fastest hundred yard dash they ever had. [Laughs] Bruce recollects that, too.

RP: Oh, he corroborates the story?

HN: Yeah, he corroborates my story.

RP: Oh geez. That's terrible.

HN: He says, "Hank, it was no problem. I told my dad and my dad just went out and bought some glass and fixed it up and that was it."

RP: Huh. And your parents never heard about it either?

HN: No, my parents never heard about it.

RP: And Bruce was a member of a pretty prominent club in Manzanar, Manza-Knights.

HN: Manza-Knights, yeah. He was, yeah.

RP: Did you know any of the other guys in that club?

HN: I knew most of 'em, yes, all of them.

RP: Did you?

HN: Yeah.

RP: Did you hang out with them on occasions?

HN: No, I never did. I was too young, I think. Well, Bruce is one year (older).

RP: You were a little older...

HN: -- older than me but maybe that puts him in the club range. 'Cause Kow Maruki was in that club.

RP: Yeah.

HN: Yeah. And Kataoka, Tak. Who was... I think Kow married his sister, right? Yeah.

RP: I guess Ralph Lazzo was involved with them too.

HN: In camp he was, yeah.

RP: Did you know him?

HN: Ralph Lazzo? Yeah, very much so, very lot.

RP: What do you remember about Ralph?

HN: Oh yeah, I knew him very well.

RP: Can you tell us any...

HN: Good guy.

RP: Have any specific memories of him?

HN: No, I really can't. I didn't go around with him so, other than school, you know, when I seen him all the time, knew about him and of him, and all the stories about him. But I never had any interaction with him.

RP: So did Bruce kind of rope you in to working on these reunions?

HN: Well, he didn't rope me into it. I kinda volunteered, I guess. Maybe "roped," "volunteers" is two different words meaning the same. [Laughs] But he was pretty active in his class and I was pretty active in my class so... the '44 class really took care of the reunions for many years at the beginning. Then they got us involved.

RP: Forty-fivers?

HN: Yeah. He says, "Well, you guys are younger than us." I said, "A big deal, one year?"

RP: Yeah, you were trying to rope some of the younger kids into it.

HN: I know it. Now we're trying to get a younger, an even younger, but we're having a tough time.

RP: So how does it feel to get together with people that you knew in camp and you still maintain a...

HN: It's fun. I think it's good to recollect and think about old times and the good times and bad times we shared together, I guess. You want to call 'em bad times. I don't think there was much bad times, so mostly good times. We were too young to have bad times. I feel for my parents, though. I think they had the bad times, really bad times. When they had to worry about where, when's the next meal gonna come from, you know.

RP: Do you think some of the stresses of camp had a profound impact on your father's illness?

HN: Possibly. That's pretty tough to take something like that. Not that easy to take anyway. And reparations that we got, they were all dead already so they never really got involved into enjoying it, you know, if they could.