Add to collection
You do not have access to any existing collections. You may create a new collection.
Other
Nakai, Mitsuyo (audio interview #4 of 5)
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - The fourth interview with Mitsuyo Nakai covers some of the same material that was covered in earlier interviews, though she provides more detail here. A good portion of the interview session (which is not included here) is devoted to describing photographs to the interviewer.
- Date
- 2020-03-25
- Resource Type
- Creator
- Campus
- Keywords
- Handle
["Submitted by Chloe Pascual (chloe.pascual@csulb.edu) on 2020-03-25T23:42:02Z No. of bitstreams: 2 1740292347775047-timnakai6.mp3: 42737161 bytes, checksum: 2c95f18f52880bb500609b0458d03d6a (MD5) 6625363938337631-timnakai.jpg: 13649 bytes, checksum: 2d7dcdcb75e60d3e392c86ea6712cfb1 (MD5)", "Made available in DSpace on 2020-03-25T23:42:02Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 1740292347775047-timnakai6.mp3: 42737161 bytes, checksum: 2c95f18f52880bb500609b0458d03d6a (MD5) 6625363938337631-timnakai.jpg: 13649 bytes, checksum: 2d7dcdcb75e60d3e392c86ea6712cfb1 (MD5)"]- Language
- Notes
- SUBJECT BIO - Mitsuyo Nakai was born in Washington state, in a lumber community, to parents who were both from Wakayama prefecture. When she was in high school, the family moved to California, and after staying with a relative on a farm in Venice, the family moved to Terminal Island, where both parents worked in the canneries. Along with the other Nisei children from Terminal Island, she attended San Pedro high school. In addition to taking care of the household tasks, she held several jobs after school and on weekends. After her marriage, she attended a school for physical therapists and started her own practice in Elsinore in 1939, while her husband continued to work on Terminal Island. The family was interned at Manzanar, and her two sons were born there. After the war, they returned to Elsinore, where she reestablished her practice, forming a partnership with her husband who also trained as a physical therapist. INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - The fourth interview with Mitsuyo Nakai covers some of the same material that was covered in earlier interviews, though she provides more detail here. A good portion of the interview session (which is not included here) is devoted to describing photographs to the interviewer. TOPICS - childhood experiences in northwest; trip to Japan; work experiences as teen-ager; cannery work;
- *** File: timnakai6.mp3 Audio Segments and Topics: (0:00-4:48)... Tape begins with Nakai identifying people in a photograph. She describes the house the family lived in on the farm: it was two-stories, with a large living room and kitchen; the bedrooms were upstairs. The house was built on a sled (sic) and would be moved every time their property lease ran out. Later, they were able to lease homes. Many of the Japanese lived in tents or makeshift homes. Some would build makeshift houses out of wood and canvas. One of her uncles homesteaded on an Indian reservation. The government gave a certain amount of time for him to till and irrigate. (4:48-8:53)... Nakai has never visited the place where she went to school but has visited her birthplace. Her school was out in the country and went from kindergarten to 8th grade. A music appreciation teacher would come every Friday and the students would sing. A medical doctor would come to the school once a month and give them iodine pills in a candy form. They went to school on horseback. She rode with other people because her parents were so poor she could not have her own horse. They would get to school a little after 8:00. She was happy when it rained because she didn't have to go home right away and cook. Since she was the oldest she was expected to cook after school. Their house was lit with kerosene lamps. There was a tank attached to the chimney where they made hot water. She was not able to relax after school because if her chores were not finished by the time her parents returned she would get in trouble. (8:53-12:03)... She was disciplined by both her mother and father. Because she was the oldest she was expected to set the example for her cousins. There were always water pumps where the family lived; they would have to pump water and carry it home. She had some White and Indian friends. The Indians lived many miles away in a "commune." She recalls family going to a trading post for groceries. Her father would take sacks of grain to a mill to be ground. The Indians were allotted staple goods by the government. (12:03-16:15)... If the potatoes were planted to close they would get "wire worms" (sic). They used to get their potatoes from Idaho and Montana. Nakai and her mother helped her father plant the crop. She recounts some of the family hardships. When she was four her father explained to her that they could not afford a nice horse or home because the law did not allow it. Her parents would send some of their money to Japan. They felt it was a waste to keep it here because they were not able to purchase land. Her mother explained to her that she could not do the same things as the white children; and she wanted to keep her out of trouble. As a result she had to come home after school and was not able to participate in dances and parties. She didn't have any problem with this because her mother explained the reasons. (16:15-19:05)... One boy she went to school with had a motorcycle. He was in an accident and broke his leg. When she told her mother about the incident, her mother did not know what a motorcycle was. A little further down from her home there were a lot of Japanese families. When she was little, because they lived in the country and did not have transportation, they rarely went to town. She was scared when they would visit her uncle. (19:05-22:03)... She discusses Japanese New Year. Her father was very much still in the "oriental style," and they followed a New Years ritual in order to start the year right. When she was on Terminal Island people thought their custom was strange. Most people participated in traditional New Years observances through a club, not at home. Her father owned many things related to Japanese culture, but during WWII he lost much of it. They buried or burned most of the items because they were afraid. Her father taught her to help those in need. He also wanted the children to have a good education. (22:03-23:27)... She adjusted well to Japan when she went in 1946. She remembers carrying water on her back. She would practice carrying things on her back at home so that people wouldn't laugh at her if she dropped something. She lived there for ten months. (23:27-26:39)... The family came to California in 1928 and moved to Terminal Island in 1929. At the time of the market crash they made .25 an hour. They could not afford a refrigerator and had an icebox. Her husband graduated from high school in 1929. He wanted to go to USC but his parents thought he should work. He was not able to find work because of the Depression. People were willing to work for low wages because they had no other choice; they did not want their children to starve. (26:39-30:55)... She was paid about $75. a week working for the ferry company. When she worked for the doctor, his wife became ill and he asked Nakai to work in his home taking care of his children. She also did interpretation work for the Immigration Service. She spent some time on a vegetable farm and also went to different homes to baby-sit. Her sister worked for a naval doctor. When they wanted to take her to another country to work her mother would not allow it. Her sister was a hard worker. She dressed like a man, in overalls and a shirt, when she worked in the canneries. (30:55-36:04)... Nakai's mother would work for 24 hours at a time at the cannery. Sometimes Nakai would work part of her mother's shift. The workers generally went home for meals. The fish at the canneries would come down chutes onto conveyer belts. They would remove all of the intestines, the head and tail and place them back on the belt. The fish would then be put into cans with brine. There were 50-100 women working at one time. They wore white uniforms, boots and rubber gloves. On top of the rubber gloves they wore cotton gloves because the fish were so slippery. (36:04-41:44)... When Nakai was born her father was 35 years old. The family came to the U.S. when she was little. Her mother came from a family where they had a maid so she didn't even know how to boil water. When her father drove a car for the first time he would talk to it like it was a team of horses. (41:44-44:31)... Nakai went to Japan in 1936 to visit her father's home. Nakai talks about some of the people she knew from Terminal Island. This discussion leads into describing photographs to the interviewers. end of tape
- Rights Note
- This repository item may be used for classroom presentations, unpublished papers, and other educational, research, or scholarly use. Other uses, especially publication in any form, such as in dissertations, theses, articles, or web pages are not permitted without the express written permission of the individual collection's copyright holder(s). Please contact the CSULB Library Administration should you require permission to publish or distribute any content from this collection or if you need additional information or assistance in using these materials: http://www.csulb.edu/library/Common/SubmittedForms/digital_rep_request.html
Thumbnail | Title | Date Uploaded | Visibility | Actions |
---|---|---|---|---|
1740292347775047-timnakai6.mp3 | 2023-10-19 | Public | Download | |
6625363938337631-timnakai.jpg | 2023-10-19 | Public | Download |