<Begin Segment 9>

RP: Another ritual of, of Japanese farm life was the, the baths at the end of the day.

NM: Oh, yeah.

RP: The ofuro?

NM: Uh-huh.

RP: Do you remember that?

NM: Oh, yes. I had, I was responsible growing up for getting the wood to burn. And there were no, no forests or anything like that nearby. But along the canal there were a lot of bushes that grew and so, and I'd go and have to gather those and put it, use it as a firewood. And, then the other, well, also we used broken crates, the crates that we put vegetables in. It would break and so we would burn that, too. But, it was quite a job to do that every night.

RP: With all that you already had to do. You had a lot to do already.

NM: Yeah, uh-huh. And this was extra.

RP: And the family would bathe every night? Was that a daily...

NM: Yes, oh yes.

RP: Soak, soak out that tension and ease the muscles a little?

NM: I guess so. It was nice, too. They had a wooden platform floating on the top. And you'd get on that and you'd just gradually sink down to the bottom in the hot water. It was really nice. Like a sauna, I guess.

Off Camera: They still have that. After the war when I used to go back and visit in the summers...

NM: We had that. As long as we were on the farm we used it.

RP: Did your father lease the, the land that he farmed?

NM: No, he bought... well, in the beginning yes, but he bought it.

RP: Oh, he eventually bought it.

NM: But we owned it, yes.

RP: And, there were alien land laws at that time.

NM: Oh, yes. Definitely. But, we weren't very old at that time but still the land was put in our names. My sister and I were landowners when we were just teenagers. [Laughs]

RP: And sometimes, I guess, yeah if they had, if an Issei man had a family of young kids he could pay to use somebody else's name. Like a Nisei --

NM: Yes. If they didn't have children they had to do it that way.

RP: -- over eighteen.

NM: Kind of risky. If that, if they didn't choose a good man why they might have lost their property.

RP: This is kind of a speculative question, but do you think your father, if he was able to become a citizen of the United States would have?

NM: Oh, yes, I think so. Because he planned to live here. He didn't plan to go back.

Off Camera: But he did become one.

NM: Huh?

Off Camera: He did become one.

NM: Oh yes, after he was able to become a citizen he did. Yeah, right away.

RP: Do you remember helping him in that process?

NM: No, I don't. I wasn't living... where was I at that time? That was '52 huh? I think we went to Japan? Anyway, I didn't help him.

<End Segment 9> - Copyright © 2010 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.