<Begin Segment 3>

RP: Where was the Japanese school here in Glendale?

RK: It was called Daishi Gakuen. It was over there on Treadwell, right off of San Fernando. Daishi Gakuen.

RP: Was it a, a Buddhist church or a...

RK: Oh no, no.

RP: It was its own building?

RK: It was a Japanese... it was no denomination, no.

RP: Uh-huh. What was, what was going to Japanese school like for you?

RK: It was an extra day of going to school so didn't learn too much. But we had to go. So, we, we must have been, spent about six years in Japanese school, at least. But, you know, it was the extra day to go to school so...

RP: And judo, where did you, was there a dojo located in Glendale?

RK: Oh yeah, Glendale had a dojo.

RP: When did you start taking judo?

RK: Oh, I would say grammar school days, while I was in grammar school. See, that's my, my third brother, Saburo, he went on a, a judo tour to Japan. And when he did that, he stayed there. You know, they had a lot of judo tours to Japan. And he was one of 'em that went.

RP: Did you, did you want to take judo or was it something your parents thought you should do?

RK: Thought we should do, but we enjoyed it, you know. We enjoyed it.

RP: Now did you, did you compete with other judodojos in the area?

RK: Oh yeah, in Southern California, we sure did. Uh-huh.

RP: San Fernando had a dojo?

RK: Yeah.

RP: North Hollywood?

RK: Well, Manzanar, Manzanar had a dojo.

RP: Did you, did you take judo up there?

RK: Yeah, yeah. Sure. Yeah.

RP: We talked to one of the sons of one of the head instructors, Murakami?

RK: Yeah, yeah. He was a teacher. Yeah he, I think he was from North Hollywood you know. Yeah. Murakami Sensei. [Laughs]

RP: Do you remember anything special about him?

RK: Well, not much. I really don't know.

RP: What was the, what was your family's religions affiliation at that time?

RK: Protestant, Christian, Protestant.

RP: Uh-huh.

RK: We were all, matter of fact, my folks were Christians in Japan, too. One of the few. And I think they, they got, they got married in a Christian ceremony. Yeah. You know, and our church affiliation here in Glendale was called Mikuni, Mikuni Christian Church. And that's where we all went.

RP: Did, you mentioned you played baseball, too.

RK: Yeah.

RP: Good old American pastime.

RK: Yeah. Well, we were here, you know, before the war.

RP: Before the war.

RK: Our group, we, we were called the Verdugans. We were called the Verdugans. But when we camp, went to camp we formed our own team.

RP: Same group of guys?

RK: No. It wasn't the same group of guys. The Verdugans were all Glendale people.

RP: Were they just Japanese American kids or were they...

RK: Oh, all Japanese American kids.

RP: So where would you play around here?

RK: Where would we... well, we played in Evergreen playground in Los Angeles. Places like that.

RP: Did you have any baseball idols growing up?

RK: Not in particular. Not in particular.

<End Segment 3> - Copyright © 2010 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.