Densho Digital Archive
Manzanar National Historic Site Collection
Title: Roy Murakami Interview
Narrator: Roy Murakami
Interviewer: Richard Potashin
Location: North Hollywood, California
Date: January 8, 2009
Densho ID: denshovh-mroy_3-01-0036

<Begin Segment 36>

RP: Well, you know in, in 1944, a lot of people went to Tule Lake and so, I mean a lot of those were Kibeis and kendo just completely stopped at that point. How was judo affected?

RM: Only, I guess it was some effect but I don't know how many it would be.

RP: When people started relocating...

RM: Relocating, going back home.

RP: But judo remained... how long, how long was your family there? When did you leave the camp?

RM: I think it was August of '45, or something like that.

RP: judo...

RM: Soon as the war ended we went back.

RP: Uh-huh. Do you remember the day the war ended and...

RM: [Shakes head] It was no interest to me. But I knew when we got to come back to... from camp to here. We had to, my father went up to Reno and purchased an old Plymouth. I think '27, I mean, '37 or something like that. Anyway he came and he said, "We're gonna go." So we got ready for it and, no... he took us, took me and we went to look for a place where we could go. And it happened that Doctor Sakaguchi had a house. It was, you know, just a fair house, on Sategory. So he, my father came down and looked at it and said, "Okay, I'll talk to Doctor Sakaguchi." And then he bought, no... yeah, Dad, I think it was Doctor Sakaguchi's dad that talked to him anyway. Anyway, they rented the house. It's, I think it was two bedroom, three bedroom or something like that. It was in a small building, though. Barely get the sleeping facility in there and one kitchen with a dining room and everything all in one. Then you had to go to bath, Japanese bath, outside. You put wood underneath the water and then boil it.

RP: Do you remember having those baths when you grew up in North Hollywood?

RM: No, we didn't have it... a shower, we had a regular bath.

RP: Bathtub.

RM: Yeah. Most of 'em, farmers had that kind of bath.

RP: Ofuro.

RM: Yeah.

RP: Do you remember ofuros in Manzanar? Some of the blocks had 'em.

RM: Oh, we had 'em. But the...

RP: You had 'em?

RM: Yeah, cement.

RP: Right.

RM: Yeah.

RP: What was it like bathing in those?

RM: We didn't, I didn't do it. I took a shower. It was faster.

RP: [Laughs] So that's where you came after you left camp, is the...

RM: Yeah, over here.

RP: Sakaguchi's house.

RM: Sakaguchi's house.

<End Segment 36> - Copyright © 2009 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.