<Begin Segment 4>

KN: Did you like going to school?

EK: Uh-huh.

KN: What was your favorite part of school?

EK: Recess. [Laughs]

KN: What did you do at recess?

EK: Well, there was a swing, teeter-totter, we used to... I remember playing with the boys. There weren't enough boys, so I used to play baseball and soccer.

KN: You must have been pretty good.

EK: Uh-huh, I liked all sports.

KN: What was your favorite subjects in school?

EK: Geography. [Laughs]

KN: And did you have any nicknames when you were in school with your classmates? Any nicknames?

EK: No, I was called by my Japanese name.

KN: And did you go to Japanese school?

EK: Uh-huh. We went after school, I think it was three times (a week), and on Saturdays. Started at six o'clock, (...) we'd study 'til (8:00). And of course, it was night, so my dad would come and pick us up. And we had a teacher that came from Japan.

KN: Where was Japanese school at?

EK: Well, I don't know exactly what you mean.

KN: Like was it in Gresham?

EK: No, it was in Fairview. There was a farmer that loaned us a house there, and then we studied there, we had a desk made in the Japanese form, desk, and we had to stand up when we started school and bow to the teacher. [Laughs] And then when we had to go home, we'd stand up and bow and say, "Sayonara."

KN: How many students were in class?

EK: Oh, there must have been thirty, thirty-five. We had a small community, Japanese community there, they all send their children to school.

KN: Was that just Fairview alone, or was it Fairview and Gresham?

EK: No, Gresham had another school, but there was a family that came from Gresham.

KN: What did you do during the summer when you weren't in school?

EK: I helped the family, of course, and then of course I had to study Japanese.

KN: Was there any activities that you would do with your brothers and sisters or any games, or play sports?

EK: No. we used to play baseball. And what I remember I used to like to do was play marbles. We made four little holes on the corner, and I challenged my brother, I'd get all their marbles. [Laughs]

KN: And living close to Blue Lake, did you ever go down to the lake?

EK: Uh-huh. It was just a lake. It isn't like it was now, but we used to walk down during the summer and then we'd swim and paddle there.

KN: And you had mentioned that on the farm that there were railroad tracks?

EK: Yeah, there was a railroad track that ran through there.

KN: So was that, the railroad went right straight through the farm?

EK: Uh-huh, Union Pacific. And then there's another one, the Amtrak, the Union Pacific on top, so we were in between.

KN: What was that like to have the train going through your yard?

EK: Well, it's noisy. And then I kind of remember, you know what hobos are? Well, they'd stop in and ask Grandma for something to eat, and she'd always give them a jelly sandwich and then they wanted to pay for it, so she'd... chop wood or clean up the garden. But I was kind of afraid of them, you know, but they were harmless. But you don't see those anymore.

KN: When there were lots of work to be done on the farm, did your father hire people to help?

EK: Uh-huh, (from the farm selling vegetables).

KN: And were they...

EK: They were all from Japan, that they came to look for work, and during the summer, we needed help, we'd hire 'em.

KN: Can you tell me about some of the Japanese events that occurred in the community like Obons and things like that?

EK: No, I don't remember. Only thing I remember is at New Year's, we'd all get together and have a feast, but I don't remember other than that.

KN: Did you ever come into Portland and to Nihonmachi very often?

EK: [Nods]

KN: How did you get into Portland?

EK: Well, my dad, I kind of remember, there was a Sears Roebuck store right here, and before school started, Mom and Dad would bring us there and buy everything for the year. But I don't remember coming too often.

KN: Did your parents have a car?

EK: Not a car, but it was a truck. And I remember, I don't know, but it had, it wasn't a tire like they have now, it was... I don't know what you call it, it was on a... it wasn't a balloon tire like, it was a truck is the only thing we had. And then later, of course, he had enough funds so we bought a car.

<End Segment 4> - Copyright © 2014 Oregon Nikkei Endowment and Densho. All Rights Reserved.