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Nakai, Mitsuyo (audio interview #1 of 5)
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - The first of five interviews with Mitsuyo Nakai was conducted at Lake Elsinore, where she was still running her physical therapy practice.
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- 2020-03-25
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- 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 first of five interviews with Mitsuyo Nakai was conducted at Lake Elsinore, where she was still running her physical therapy practice. TOPICS - family background; family roles; childhood in northwest lumber towns; family move to California; schooling;Japanese education; move to California; parents work in cannery; high school in San Pedro; housing; high school jobs; trip to Japan;
- *** File: timnakai1.mp3 Audio Segments and Topics: (0:00-2:01)... Nakai's mother was born in Japan, April 15, 1893, and immigrated to Seattle in February, 1913. Her father was born in Japan, March 12, 1878, and he immigrated to Vancouver in August, 1907. Her father passed away on Dec. 24, 1955. Her mother was a picture bride. (2:01-9:58)... Nakai's mother's maternal uncle was the go-between who arranged her marriage. Her father was a basket-maker. He immigrated from Osaka to Vancouver, and then he went to Wyoming, working in the railroad section. When he later went to Seattle, he met her mother's uncle. Her father worked in a lumber mill, while her uncle worked in a shipyard. Her mother came as a picture bride in 1913. Nakai was born in Portland on December 4, 1913. (9:58-11:16)... She notes discusses her immediate family (siblings). She is the oldest, with two sisters and a brother. (11:16-18:23)... Nakai grew up first in Mulkateo, a lumber town in Oregon, then in Ashu, Washington, a mill community . In Washington, the lumber company provided the house in which they lived. Few men there had wives, so there were few children. She recalls one young boy in the neighborhood, but she mostly played alone. There was a Japanese grocery store there. She ate both Japanese and American food. Her father did most of the cooking. (18:23-22:46)... She moved to California with her aunt in 1928 to attend Japanese school. She went to an American high school as well. She knew English and a little Japanese. She enjoys foreign language and art. (22:46-25:53)... During her elementary school years, they lived in a rural area. The water was poor, so she took iodine pills at school. Her father had become a farmer, growing potatoes, onions, alfalfa, grain, corn. Because he valued education, they had moved away from the lumber camp so the children could go to better schools. She did housework from the age of eight. (25:53-29:34)... Her father made all of the decisions for the family, even in child rearing; he was the disciplinarian and was often very stern. She does not recall her siblings helping her with the housework. (29:34-32:46)... She recalls that her elementary school in Washington had two classrooms (1-8th grade), with two teachers and very few students. She moved to California when she was in the seventh grade, and after taking aptitude tests she skipped to eighth grade. She went to a small two room school in Playa del Rey, with one other Japanese student. (32:46-33:45)... Her mother was unable to live on a farm any longer due to the hard labor and allergies, so the family moved to Terminal Island in 1929. Her father was employed with a seafood company until WWII. (33:22-35:37)... She continued to attend Japanese school on Saturdays. She learned other skills as well, such as making coat hangers and flowers out of paper. Her father said that women had to have something to show besides just sitting down and cooking. Nakai went to high school in 1929. (35:37-39:16)... She doesn't recall spending a lot time together with her family, though when they were on the farm she recalls them spending evenings eating popcorn and peanut brittle. Her mother would sing Japanese songs in the evenings. They had a smokehouse on the farm, and her father would make bacon and ham. Her uncle was Methodist, and she went to church with him. In California, she was baptized in 1929 as a Baptist. (39:16-41:19)... She had no knowledge about menstruation when she had her first period. Her mother didn't menstruate until the age of 18. (41:19-43:57)... She had Indian and white Anglo neighbors when they lived on the farm. The Indian neighbors would come after the crop was harvested to pick up whatever was left behind and clean the fields. end of tape *** File: timnakai2.mp3 (0:00-1:31)... Her friends from school were all White and Indian. She didn't think of them as being different; color did not mean anything to the children. (1:31-3:13)... Before moving to California, her mother had Japanese books for her to read, mostly children's books. She would also read and translate for her parents books in English. She feels this helped her to know both English and Japanese. (3:13-7:18)... She came to California around the age of 12 or 13. Her family drove down from Washington in a car. Her father did not know how to drive a car very well; he was more accustomed to driving a team of horses. Her father was driving too fast around the hills of Santa Barbara and he had forgotten to use the brakes and kept on saying "Whoa, whoa!," as if the car were a team of horses. He wore the brakes out on the car, almost killing the family. Her brother grabbed the wheel and ran the car against a hill. At the bottom of the hill, they found a garage to repair the car. Their first stop after leaving Washington was Portland, which was the first time she saw the ocean. She helped her father navigate with the map. The trip took about a week. (7:18-8:39)... After she graduated from the 8th grade, her family moved to Terminal Island. She went to San Pedro High. She lived there until 1939. There were many Japanese there and she thought that was where all the Japanese people lived. She recalls going to Los Angeles to interpret in a hospital and was surprised to find many other Japanese. (8:39-10:15)... Her father worked for Van Kamp seafood company. He worked in the cannery, receiving and separating the fish from the ship. Her mother worked in the department where they cut and cleaned the fish. She remembers her sister also working there. Nakai remained at home. This was the first time she remembers her mother working outside the home (aside from the ranch). Her mother worked there until WWII. (10:15-12:15)... The canneries provided the families homes, in exchange for working for them. Her family's house had three rooms, with a kitchen, a middle room, and a bedroom. Some larger families used every room for beds. Four or five families would share a bath house, which had a big redwood tub, heated by a wood fire. Each of the families would take turns preparing and cleaning the tub. (12:15-13:29)... She and her sisters shared the front room of the house. Her father and mother and brother slept in the other room. She had no sense of privacy or personal space. Her parents sometimes worked all day and night, 16-18 hour days. (13:29-15:31)... Her parents were strict and would not allow them to interact with other boys in the community. She would be questioned if she spoke to a boy in public. She recalls having no time for other social or athletic activities at school, but she feels no regret for the way she grew up. She remembers that her White friends teased her for working so much; and the butchers would tease her when it rained if she was going to mow the lawn. She enjoyed the work and knew that it had to be done. (15:31-18:05)... Her next younger sister was very good at sewing. Her sister had received a scholarship but could not take it because she had to work. Her sister sewed many of the family's clothes, including Nakai's wedding dress. She still sews and knits for her relatives. During WWII, her sister worked in Chicago. She came back and worked as a sewer while her husband was in Germany in the military. She also worked for such companies as Bullock's and the May Company in Los Angeles and then went east again and worked for the Judy Crib company. (18:05-19:09)... Growing up, she recalls her mother making all of their clothes. In high school she wore uniforms. San Pedro High School was a public school, but they all wore uniforms. She could not afford to have her clothes pressed so she would put them under the mattress and sleep on them. (19:09-21:01)... Her thoughts were always about going home after school to take care of her siblings. She enjoyed Spanish in high school. She wanted to be a bookkeeper or stenographer. She took nursing on the side, which eventually became her job. She liked to play hockey and basketball, but these activities were after school and she could not participate. (21:01-26:23)... In those days, there were many Japanese students who were born in the United States but then sent to Japan and asked to come back (Kibei). Many of them were much older than her, but they could not speak English; they had completed some high school and even college in Japan. The principal of her high school formed a foreign language class (ESL) for these Kibei but the students (mostly boys) did not respect the teacher because she was white. Nakai was asked to go to the class to discipline the students. They teased in Japanese. She was sent to the class every other day during her study period to scold them. The boys' behavior gradually improved and she would speak to them regularly in Japanese. (26:23-28:43)... While scolding the boys, she told them how she learned math growing up. Her father did not know how to explain division so he would take a potato or apples and cut them up. One of the boys lived near her and she remembers scolding him for not paying attention to nor respecting the Caucasian teacher. She didn't mind when the boys teased her because her parents had taught her to always help those in need. (28:43-31:38)... Her principal got her a job with the immigration office as an interpreter. She also got a job with a ferry company in Terminal Island. She also worked at a doctor's office until she was married. She worked in a small grocery store as well on the mainland, and worked for some Japanese men, preparing meals for them. During summer vacations, she helped her parents at home. (31:38-34:10)... After graduating from high school, she worked for six years as a time keeper and receptionist in a ferry company. She would also be asked to work as an interpreter. Her boss trusted her and he let her make deposits in the bank, despite the fact that she was not bonded. (34:10-37:02)... Her job with Doctor Dumber was obtained through a Japanese gardener. Although she was not fully trained, she worked as a nurse and performed basic nursing tasks, as well as book keeping. She was a senior a high school when she began working there, working on Saturdays and Sundays. She was at Dr. Dumber 's home during the 1933 earthquake. After she graduated from high school, she worked for the ferry company during the week and for the doctor on the weekends. (37:02-40:17)... In 1929, during the Depression, her family was living in Venice, just about to move to Terminal Island. She remembers going to a Bank of America in Inglewood, where a man was crying. The bank was closed on a weekday and she realized that it was the Depression. She recalls having to work harder. Her mother received about .25 cents an hour at the seafood company and her father .35 cents. She met her future husband, who worked in Palos Verdes picking peas for .35 cents an hour. (40:17-42:50)... All of her sibling went through high school. Her sister June went to Japan for two or three years and returned to finish high school. In 1936, they all went to Japan for about three months. Her father wanted them to meet their grandmother. Her sister stayed behind after taking entrance exams for school there. (42:50-45:33)... She felt being in Japan was easy for her because she could speak Japanese and cook as well. She relates a story about going to a seaport town and watching a man kill a chicken and discarding the bones. She asked for all of the bones to make broth. end of tape
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