<Begin Segment 15>

RP: So did you have block teams for basketball and baseball?

RK: Yeah. We were called the Tro-babes.

RP: Tro-babes?

RK: Tro-babes. You know, for USA Trojans? Tro-babes.

RP: Oh.

RK: That's what we were called.

RP: Where did you play your baseball games? In the firebreak?

RK: Oh, between the firebreaks. The firebreaks was the baseball field.

RP: Uh-huh.

RK: And then all, every block had a basketball court, if you ever notice that. You know, where the bathrooms were. boys bathroom, girls bathroom, and then there was a laundry room. Then on one side was a basketball court.

RP: And that was also the Tro-babes, too?

RK: Yeah, our club was called the Tro-babes. Our team was called Tro-babes.

RP: Huh. So who, who else was on the team besides you?

RK: Oh, the Nakaharas, the... Togo, there's a whole bunch of us.

RP: Did you, did you have uniforms at all or just...

RK: Yeah, oh yeah. We had uniforms. We had uniforms.

RP: And the equipment, the bats and the balls, how did you get those?

RK: Oh, they, they sold them in the canteen.

RP: The canteen. What you couldn't get in the canteen you just ordered from the...

RK: Or Sears catalog.

RP: Uh-huh.

RK: Yeah, everybody had the Sears catalog. You can get everything through the Sears...

RP: So, whatever blocks did you play in baseball and basketball?

RK: Well, everybody had their own group. They made up teams.

RP: You made up teams within your block, the block, okay.

RK: Yeah. Like the Terminal Island people, the San Pedro Terminal Island, they had their team. They were called the Skippers, of course. San Fernando, they had their team. They were called the Aces.

RP: Uh-huh.

RK: And the Boyle Heights area, they had their team. And the Wanjis had their team.

RP: Wanjis?

RK: Yeah. One of 'em was called the Wanjis.

[Interruption]

RP: This is tape two of a continuing interview with Rok Kurihara. And Rok, you were just talking about some of the sporting activities that you participated in. And we were talking about baseball, specifically, so did you ever play any teams from Terminal Island, baseball-wise?

RK: Between the two teams?

RP: Yes.

RK: Yes, we did. But offhand, I don't know who, but, we had leagues, too.

RP: Okay, uh-huh. What position did you play?

RK: First base, baseball. Yeah.

RP: Did you have one of those big trappers gloves?

RK: Yeah. For the outfield.

[Interruption]

RK: Yeah, so, like I said, I went through all my high school there. And I graduated there.

RP: You were also, you also were on the football team for the high school.

RK: Little bit.

RP: A little bit?

RK: Little bit, yeah. [Laughs]

<End Segment 15> - Copyright © 2010 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.