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RB: Do you see Shofuso as a Japanese American community space?

MN: I do. I mean, I don't know how others feel about it. Having said that, I haven't been here in a while myself. This is my first, shall we say, guest appearance in years. But I find it just as I have always found it. I mean, it's a very comforting space. Others many find other things in it, too, but it is certainly that for me, a place of solitude and peace.

RB: Do you have any specific memories of some of the community events that took place here?

MN: Well, let's see. I think one Obon... I have enough vanity to consider myself somewhat skilled around the grill. And I think there was cooking on a little mini grill, and I'll never forget because I thought they didn't let the fluid burn off. [Laughs] So the early batches of food were a little, shall we say, tainted, at least by my taste. Somehow I remember that. But I my experiences here were quite pleasant except for that time I ate food from the first batch on the grill there. But, you know, I thought that must be a rookie mistake.

RB: Was that at the Natsu Matsuri, the summer festival?

MN: Yeah, I think it was the summer festival. And you also have a lot of interaction, I mean, people were Japanese Americans who lived in Seabrook and were active in the JACL there. They often came up here, too. I mean, there's an Obon there, so there's been that intermingling, if you will, between those two Nikkei communities that pretty much remains to this day. I mean, I guess I'm an example of that to some extent, and other families in the Philadelphia area, I think, some grew up in South Jersey, and some who grew up in South Jersey are in this area, like myself.

<End Segment 3> - Copyright © 2023 Densho. All Rights Reserved.