<Begin Segment 18>

RP: So the first, the first Kurihara to leave the camp was, was Richard.

RK: Was Dick, Richard, yeah. Yeah, he just, he really just passed by, really. Probably with the best, the camp was probably the best thing that ever, that happened to him. There was a little bit of prejudice along the West Coast. But as soon as he applied, he got a job from camp. He got his job in Cleveland from camp.

RP: The aeronautical engineer job?

RK: Yeah. Uh-huh. So it was, probably was the best thing to happen to him. And the camp was a good experience for all of us, you know why? It spread us all over the place, especially Chicago. Especially Chicago. And those groups are still in Chicago, many of them. And the groups that went to Cleveland are still there. And many of 'em went to New York and New Jersey.

RP: How long did your, did your brother stay in Cleveland?

RK: All his life.

RP: He was there all his life?

RK: Yeah. Dick stayed there... as soon as he left he, like I say, he worked for Thompson Products and then he started his own business there. And he was there all his life. He died in Cleveland.

RP: Some of your brothers also went out on furloughs, too?

RK: All the time. Every chance they got they went. They went out on furloughs. To Idaho, Colorado, sugar beets, and cut hay, things like that. See, my wife was born and raised, their family was Colorado. They didn't have to go to camp. They didn't have to go to camp, so, they were Colorado.

RP: Did they, they were living in Colorado before the war broke out?

RK: Yeah, uh-huh.

RP: Okay. Some families left the West Coast...

RK: Oh no, no, they were always Colorado.

RP: Were always Colorado.

RK: Yeah, they came from Japan through Mexico they ended. Instead of coming West Coast, they went to Colorado. And you know Colorado still has a huge contingent of Japanese there. The Denver area.

RP: Further south, too...

RK: Yeah, Pueblo.

RP: Pueblo. Yeah. And next to go out was Kenichi. Kenichi went, you said he went ahead and continued his education in Saint Louis.

RK: Saint Louis. Saint Louis.

RP: And he became a pharmacist.

RK: Yeah, he became a pharmacist.

RP: Did he stay in Saint Louis or did he return to the...

RK: Oh, he, as soon as he graduated he, he came back. And he worked for USC Medical Center all his life. His, his whole career was... and mine, too. My career was there, too. And I'm still there. [Laughs] I'm still there.

RP: You're a...

RK: I'm a pharmacist, too.

RP: Right. Yeah.

<End Segment 18> - Copyright © 2010 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.