Densho Digital Archive - Roy Murakami Interview (denshovh-mroy

<Begin Segment 32>

RP: This is tape three of a continuing interview with Roy Murakami. Roy, we were just talking a little bit about fishing and, outside of camp. Your father didn't fish.

RM: No, he had... the new ones.

RP: And you didn't either did you?

RM: No.

RP: But...

RM: Tashima sensei used to. He brought us back a golden trout, up the, you know, I think it's the Seven Sisters up there. One of those lakes, he got it.

RP: He went up, he had to go up pretty far to get those.

RM: Yeah. They took... they were all adventurous guys that would go out there. They take couple sandwiches or something like that and then go up.

RP: Do you remember how long they would be gone for?

RM: No, about a week or so.

RP: A week?

RM: Yeah.

RP: Do you remember a guy named Ishikawa who was a, oh, he was probably in his forties or fifties when he was in camp. But he used to also go up for a week or he might have, might have gone out with Tashima.

RM: Yeah, Tashima. Because he was, he was that age group.

RP: Uh-huh. Did he go up there once, just once in a while or very often or... Tashima?

RM: Tashima? Oh, once in a while.

RP: And your mom would fry up the trout?

RM: Oh yeah, we ate it that once. That's special. That was great. Pink color. First time I ate it, that kind of trout.

RP: But you never caught the fishing bug.

RM: [Shakes head] I'd rather read the book. [Laughs] I went, we went back to Manzanar some years later and I was, I would become the cook of our group. You know, there's rice and everything while they were away. When they come back then they got rice. And then cook up the trout or whatever they got.

RP: Oh, after, when you went up.

RM: When you camp.

RP: In camp?

RM: Out of camp. When the camp was no longer there.

RP: When you went up on vacations or...

RM: Yeah, he just, this one guy went fishing. He had a fishing bug.

RP: Huh. So you'd cook up the rice and he'd bring the trout.

RM: Yeah. My brother went I think and two, two or three of us went with him. We sleep in truck.

RP: Did your mom work in camp?

RM: Yeah, secretary.

RP: To a block manager?

RM: Block manager.

RP: Four?

RM: Four.

RP: Who was that? Do you remember?

RM: I, I think it was Hayashi.

RP: Hayashi?

RM: Hayashi I think it was.

RP: Hmm.

RM: Nice guy.

RP: Uh-huh. And she was secretary? Okay.

RM: Yeah.

RP: So she... was that the first time she'd ever... well, she worked at the nursery didn't she?

RM: Oh, yeah.

RP: So she, you know, she had that business background. So she wanted to keep busy?

RM: Yeah.