<Begin Segment 6>

RP: Tell us a little bit about your recollections of December 7, 1941.

RK: December 7th. That was a Sunday, you know? That was a Sunday. We went to church. We went to church. Then after that the family, we went to a farm, Oda's farm. And we were picking cabbage. We were picking cabbage and then through the radio, that's when we heard about the war. Then the next day, then the next day was Monday, huh? Shoot, now we gotta go to school. So, so we went to school. We had to go to school. My mom says, "You gotta go to school," so we went to school. And we continued all the way until April. And, but anyway, the kids were very, very good. They were no problem. They were very tolerant. The school was, too. So, no problem really.

RP: How many minorities did you have in the, in the school? Did you have any other Japanese Americans besides...

RK: Oh, oh yeah, sure. Sure. Yeah. Matter of fact, Glendale was a larger Japanese community then than it is now. Much larger. There's only a handful of Japanese here now. But in those days, we had our own Japanese school. We had our own church. We had our own judo dojo. Although the church is still here. The church that I attended is still here. Matter of fact, it's just up the street.

RP: Did you have any Japanese stores in Glendale?

RK: Grocery stores? Sure.

RP: Markets or other.

RK: Sure. Sure they, there was the Capitol Market. the one on San Fernando was called Little Pig, Little Pig Market. Yeah, Yasudas had that. And quite a few nurseries, too.

RP: Do you remember any of them?

RK: Tropical Nursery, sure. Kishis had that. And then, see the Armstrong Nursery here, that was Satsuma nursery. That was a Japanese nursery and that nursery is still here.

RP: And that's where your father would, would go to get some of his plants there, at the nurseries?

RK: Oh, yeah.

RP: Did he ever grow any of his own?

RK: No, no. And like I said, it was quite a few grocery, produce and grocery stores. Ito's, Hiroto's...

RP: Did you make any trips into Little Tokyo for any reason?

RK: You know, before we used to do, make a lot of trips. But not no more, not now. Because there's no need to, that's why. You could buy any kind of food item anywhere now. So, you know, you just, and then it's not the, it's not the old Little Tokyo the way it is now.

RP: How do you remember Little Tokyo back before the war?

RK: Oh, it was, it was Little Tokyo. You know, First Street in San Pedro was the hub. And it was all Japanese establishments. And Rafu Dojo, the judo dojo there was right there. And that's where most of the tournaments were held there. Vivid remember...

RP: But pretty vibrant community.

RK: Oh, yeah. It was a vibrant, it was... it was Little Tokyo, definitely.

RP: So when you went down there what would you do? Would you do some shopping or...

RK: Yeah, shopping, yeah. Things like... yeah.

RP: Uh-huh. Did your family own their own house in Glendale here or did you lease a house?

RK: Yes, they owned, the owned their house. And they were, our Caucasian friends here were very nice. They, they did everything for us. Even before they started our Sunday school, they started our Japanese school.

RP: They did?

RK: Yeah. And then they took care of things while we were in camp.

RP: Like what?

RK: They stored all our belongings in the house. They collected the rent because they rented it out.

RP: And they sent you the money in camp?

RK: Yeah, no, when came back they had it in an envelope and gave it to my folks. Their name, their name was Vanloons.

RP: Vanloon?

RK: Vanloons.

RP: V-A-N-L--

RK: V-A-N-L-O-O-N-S. And there were Larsons. There was the Bakers. Very nice people.

RP: So were they affiliated with...

RK: With the church.

RP: With the church. Uh-huh. Matter of fact, they started the church. They started it. We didn't start it. They started the church.

<End Segment 6> - Copyright © 2010 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.