Densho Digital Archive
Manzanar National Historic Site Collection
Title: Toshiro Izumi Interview
Narrator: Toshiro Izumi
Interviewer: Richard Potashin
Location: Los Angeles, California
Date: March 2, 2010
Densho ID: denshovh-ftakayo-01-0009

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RP: Do you recall, besides Japanese on Terminal Island, were there other ethnic groups that you recall living on the island and fishing?

TI: There were other fishermen yes, but they unloaded their fish at the various canneries and they took their boat across the channel and they had an area where they, where all the fishermen I guess, they kept their boats, not on Terminal Island, on the mainland of San Pedro. These were, I guess, Slavonian people, and the Italians, and... they were all good fishermen, too.

RP: And you had, you had a Russian family --

TI: Yes.

RP: -- that lived on the island.

TI: Yeah.

RP: Tell us about them.

TI: Well the Russian family, I guess you've heard of White Russians? These were Russians that believed in the king or whatever that was ruling Russia. When the rulers were disposed of, the Russian family couldn't stay in Russia anymore so they came to United States. And why they settled on Terminal Island I really don't know. But they were taught fishing and the kids played with all the Japanese kids that were on the island. They spoke Japanese too. In fact, it was a brother and a sister I think, they attended the Japanese school that I was going to.

RP: And girls, you mentioned the girls, would dress up in kimonos?

TI: Oh, yes, uh-huh. That was a tradition on Terminal Island. I think it was, was it May or in March? It was a Girl's Day and all the girls attending our school would dress in kimonos. And they were taught various dances, group dancing. And I guess they had a loudspeaker to play the music, and all these girls would dance. We'd have busloads of students from other schools, you know, come over and watch the girls dance. And I think I told you that I think there were two Russian girls living on Terminal Island. And these girls were loaned Japanese kimono and they'd dance along with their classmates.

RP: The name of the family I believe was the Kaserovs?

TI: Kaserov, I think. Yeah.

RP: What an interesting...

TI: We never found out whatever happened to them, you know.

RP: Right. When...

TI: When the war broke out.

RP: Right, and then their forty-eight hour order to...

TI: Yeah. That I think they had to leave Terminal Island, but they were never interned like we were.

RP: But we don't know where --

TI: No.

RP: -- they ever ended up.

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