Densho Digital Archive - Susumu Iwasaki Interview (denshovh-isusumu

<Begin Segment 10>

RP: I'm just gonna backtrack, back to Terminal Island. Did you, do you recall the kenjinkai picnics?

SI: Who?

RP: The kenjinkai?

SI: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. We used to have that, yeah, right. It was all on Brighton Beach, we used to go there. And it was fun. It was just... can't recall too many things that we did, but we used to go to all the different kenjinkai ones. It was free drinks and stuff like that. So...

RP: What other picnics do you remember? Other areas?

SI: What?

RP: The other different kenjinkai picnics?

SI: Beside kenjinkai?

RP: Besides Wakayama.

SI: Well, Wakayama is a big... but they used to have what they call the village picnic, right, Taiji picnic, Tahara picnic. I don't know, I can't remember the other villages. They always have their own group picnic. So, that was fun because you get to go more than one time. So...

RP: Were there games and contests?

SI: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. But in grammar school we used to have Boys Days. And we used to have like, oh, I remember we used to, I remember we used to get on somebody's back and we used to go out and then hit other guy's balloon. They used to tie balloons on their mask and on the side. And whatever, get all the balloons out and they had to leave. It was fun. We have regular Boys Day in grammar school. And then we had... Girls Day, I can't remember having that. But on Boys Day we used to have a big holiday.

RP: In school?

SI: Yeah.

RP: Do you remember them flying the carp?

SI: Yeah, oh yeah. We used to have, all used to have that. Well, not all of 'em, but those people who can afford it. My dad used to put up a big pole up there that we used to fly ours. Yeah. We were one of the few fortunate people that had the luxury of... in fact, we were one of the very few people that used to have refrigerator. In those days it used to be just ice box. It was this old ice box, you could put the ice on the top. But that, we were part of, like I say, few fortunate people that bought a refrigerator.

RP: Did your family have a car, too?

SI: We had a car. It was oh, Oakland. Never, ever heard of Oakland?

RP: Oakland?

SI: It's a four door... it was made by Oldsmobile. I don't know what ever happened to the car though. And I remember he must have taken the car up to, you know, when we evacuated from... to this day I don't know what he did with the car. But it was in very top condition because his buddy was a, a fisherman, was a mechanic. And every week he used to come and he used to monkey around with the car and, you know, to this day I can't, I can't understand how he ever did that. He loves to go fishing. I mean, lake fishing. And from Terminal Island they used to go all the way to Arrowhead.

RP: Arrowhead.

SI: To fish.

RP: Your father, too?

SI: Yeah, father and, and that, that mechanic.

RP: This mechanic.

SI: Yeah.

RP: Did you ever go on those trips?

SI: No, never did.

RP: Those were little private man trips?

SI: Right. Just the two of them used to go all the way... to this day I'm sure they came through like Orange, Olive, and Santa Ana Canyon Road, and all the way up there. And amazing how... in those days, what, you can only go 35 miles an hour?

RP: So did you ever drive in the car?

SI: Did what?

RP: Did you ever go in the car?

SI: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Dad used to take us maybe once every month, once every other month we, they used to come down to Santa Anna because we used to have our friend over there. And I can remember that we used to get, oh, we buy these coconut on the corner, where they sell these coconut. And then we used to peel those things out. Yeah, we used to have a field day for the day.

RP: Did you ever go to Little Tokyo during the year?

SI: Before the war?

RP: Before the war.

SI: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Whenever they have like funeral or... very seldom though. But that, like, Dad and them, they used to go there then, we loved them to go there because when they come back they always bring you a box of sushi. That was a treat. But, yeah, because he had friends from the old, the old country, and they used to go visit over there. But we never used to go.