Densho Digital Archive - Henry Nishi Interview II (denshovh-nhenry

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RP: And how did you take to golf at Manzanar?

HN: Oh, it was, I liked it. It was, I liked it. Golf, you start... golf is a, is a game if you get started you get, you get hitched to it. But I know when I got back, I got interested in fishing. And I liked to, I liked fishing and it was a question of what do I like better, go golfing or go fishing and I decided fishing was cheaper.

RP: How much did it cost to order clubs from Sears and Roebuck in those days?

HN: Gosh, I don't remember but you know, I mean it's, I guess it would be just relative... the golf course, like even today, the golf course, golf clubs, equipment is not cheap. But, so it was, in those days... now of course it would be cheap, but it was, it was expensive.

RP: Uh-huh. You, I'm assuming that you were paid by the government to run the nursery in camp?

HN: Well, when you say paid, everybody that had a job was paid. Whether it was on the $12 level or the intermediate was $16 and if you were the head of the project you got paid, or a foreman, you got paid $19. So you, we were all paid as, except for Joe Kishi, who was, who started it, he was the foreman or supervisor, he got $19 and we got $16 as skilled labor. And if you were just a, just a laborer you got $12, I think it was $12. I think it was three, three pay scales. But everybody, whatever they did, whether it work in the kitchen or maintenance or truck driving, everybody got paid.

RP: You said a lot of golf balls went over the fence. Probably landed in Bear's Creek.

HN: Yeah. [Laughs]

RP: I remember hearing a story about some kid that used to go out, go in there and fish the balls out and then sell 'em back to Mr. Hori. You know, give you five cents for every ball that you, that you get.

HN: I didn't know about that.

RP: So was there actually, was there actually a hole that went across the creek?

HN: Yeah, the first hole was starting... and it was a short hole but it was over the creek. So the green was just on the other side of the creek. Between the creek and the fence line.

RP: Would you say that the golf course was used pretty regularly?

HN: Oh, yeah.

RP: So people who had never golfed before took it up.

HN: Yeah. And surprisingly, some of the older Issei people, they were golfers, like Mr. Hori.

RP: They took it up, too. Did you have a clubhouse building or anything...

HN: No, no.

RP: I know that the golf course wrapped around that southwest corner of the camp.

HN: Yeah.

RP: And you had a guard tower right on that corner.

HN: Right on that corner, yeah.

RP: And then one in the middle.

HN: Yeah.

RP: It's just sort of a very surreal site to, you know, be golfing and then here's a MP in the guard towerwith a gun watching you guys or just... kind of a strange...

HN: I think we were able to just ignore it. [Laughs]

RP: Yeah, he probably ignored you, too.

HN: Yeah, it just... you know, it's like at the beginning, at the beginning I think they were very... because everything is kind of new and so it was... guarding the camp was pretty, pretty severe and strict. But as time went on. I guess the military personnel there got much more lenient because they just got used to the people and there wasn't, they felt there wasn't much of a threat. But I think within the beginning, the security people were more alert because everything was kind of new to them. It was new to us.

RP: You related a specific experience when you were playing golf with a guy and he sliced a ball outside.

HN: And he went after it?

RP: Yeah. Tell us about that.

HN: Yeah, yeah, fortunately he didn't get hit but I know that the guard that was up there, he was aiming for him because it was just... the bullets were coming right next to him.

RP: How far out, outside the fence was he, just...

HN: He just crawled under maybe ten, fifteen feet to retrieve the ball. I just happened to be there.

RP: And you watched?

HN: Yeah, yeah.

RP: How many shots would you say that he fired?

HN: Oh there was at... there was four or five, maybe half a dozen shots.

RP: And what was the closest?

HN: It was, but not... I don't know whether it was the guard intentionally tried to miss him but they were, they were close though. I would imagine he was aiming for the person.

RP: And how, when did this happen? Was this early in camp?

HN: Yeah.

RP: Like within the first five or six months?

HN: I think later on it got to a point where people just went out hiking and they would just... I think it got pretty relaxed. At the beginning, you know, everything was up in arms.

RP: When you saw this situation, you know there's a friend of yours being shot at, did you have a reaction? Any strong emotions about that or how did you feel about it?

HN: I think it was a natural reaction where if you crawl under the fence, you're liable to get killed. 'Cause what are those guards up there for? Keep you in. That's what their orders are. So, yeah, it was just, I think it was very fortunate that he didn't get hit.