Densho Digital Archive - Yukiko Miyahara Interview (denshovh-myukiko

<Begin Segment 14>

KP: And Toshio became a block manager?

YM: Uh-huh.

KP: How did that come about?

YM: They chose him. These are the people that was block managers and whatever. [Holds up a photo]

KP: Can you point out Toshio in there?

YM: Uh-huh. Right there. [Points to photo.]

RP: I'm going to go in a little closer. Where is he?

KP: Could you point him out again?

YM: [Points to photo]

KP: Thank you.

YM: Here's a much better picture of him. [Looks at photo]

KP: Well some of the, I'm not sure what the time period was, but some of the block managers were hauled off and jailed. Was that before the time that you got there?

YM: I don't, I don't know of any manager being hauled out. But I've heard of anti, whatever, Japanese or whatever, they had a lot of problems. But we didn't know anybody that was a block manager that was taken like that. I don't think so.

KP: So, the, the job as block manager was a full-time job?

YM: Yeah. They got $16 a month.

KP: What kinds of things would he do as a block manager, do you remember?

Off camera voice: It was $19 isn't it?

YM: No, professionals were nineteen. Well, I guess he got nineteen, huh? I guess he got nineteen. So I think he got nineteen. And...

KP: So what kind of duties did he have?

YM: Well they had, the duty was the, every week or so they had block managers meeting and he comes back and reports whatever they talked about and then that was about it, you know.

KP: Discussing problems in the block or what the block needed or...

YM: Yeah, uh-huh. So, we didn't have hardly any incident in our block. We had pretty good peoples there. But they had a lot of single person in our block. One whole, they were from Hawaii, these people. They came from Heart Mountain and they were all young. Hawaiian boys were in one of our whole barracks. And they all like to play mahjong and my husband learned how to play mahjong. I learned how to play mahjong. We had a lot of fun.

KP: Did they sing?

YM: No. They played... we, my husband used to sing. He used to even sing for talent show. He sang even in Santa Anita. I used to just ignore it. I don't go, I don't like to hear him sing.

Off camera voice: He was pretty good.

YM: Yeah, no, he used to love to sing. And then he learned that shigin, you know, that... and I couldn't stand that.

KP: Why, what, what didn't you like about it?

YM: It's a, it's not like really singing. It's more like singing words. You know, not like a song. It's more, I don't know, he used to go do that. So, that teacher, he used to come to our house after the class and he'll sit and he'll drink and he'll eat squid sashimi and stayed 'til two o-clock or something and I would sometime wish he'd go home. [Laughs]

KP: And where was this?

YM: In Tule Lake.

KP: So, your husband took up shigin in Tule Lake? Did you take up any...

YM: No, no. I have no musical talent. I have no artistic talent. I... my husband, he, he loved to sing. He used to... so all my kids are musically talented. They both, the two girls play the piano and my, my granddaughter plays the flute. And so, you know, they're all musical, but not me. I don't think Fred does much musical either, but he's an artist. He's artist and my husband used to like to draw, too. He was an artist.

KP: Did he take any art classes when he was in Tule Lake, your husband?

YM: No, no. He was too busy being block manager or playing mahjong.

KP: Or singing shigin.

YM: Uh-huh. That was at nighttime.