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Ida, Miyo Higashi (audio interview #2 of 2)
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - In this second interview, Ida provides more detail about some of the traditional Japanese celebrations and activities on Terminal Island when she was growing up, as well as the experiences of Nisei like her who were sent back to Japan for some schooling. TOPICS - mother's activities; holidays and celebrations; recreational activities; experiences of Nisei in Japan; nationalism;dating on Terminal Island; career aspirations; marriage; life and work in Manzanar; farm life in Utah; move and work in New York; return to Los Angeles; development of grocery store business in L;A; 11/14/1979
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- *** File: timida3.mp3 Audio Segments and Topics: (0:00-3:26)... Her parents came initially to Seattle, then moved down to San Pedro. Her father and his partner came from the same town in Japan. Most of the women worked in the cannery, but her mother stayed at home. For the other families, there was no child care. Some women would leave their babies in their cribs, return at noontime to feed them, then return to work. (3:26-7:53)... Her mother sewed for the family, and she liked to do embroidery. She made all the clothes for the family. Her father was almost always absent. She does remember the family spending New Year's together, an important Japanese tradition. The children would receive money as the families visited each other. Her mother would prepare the meal, beginning early in the morning. Many families would get together to spend the holiday together. The women would make mochi (pounded rice cakes) n the morning. (7:53-9:40)... Christmas wasn't as special a holiday as New Year, although the children did exchange gifts, especially at the church. Her mother would tell her about Santa Claus, and they would put a Christmas tree up. (9:40-12:19)... She did not learn how to cook at a young age; only after she had returned from Japan. She recalls that the family also would celebrate Thanksgiving and would eat turkey. (12:19-15:17)... She talks about picnics that the community would have for people from Terminal Island. She thinks they were held somewhere in Orange County. The families would charter buses and take their cars. The picnics were a lot of fun, with lots of games and food. People from Los Angeles would come as well. They were held once a year in the summer. (15:17-17:55)... The competitions they had at Japanese school, similar to what was done in Japan, were big events. (17:55-19:38)... She recalls that her family would go with other families to the beach on Terminal Island, especially after school. They would find snails and abalone to eat. (19:38-23:37)... Whenever there was a full moon, her father didn't go out fishing, because the fish would not be there. He would often go to Mexico to fish, and sometimes be gone for as long as two months. She missed him when he would go. Unlike other families, he would spend lots of time with them when he was home. He would take her and her brother into Los Angeles to go shopping and to see shows. She remembers that going to Sears was something very special. Her mother would stay at home with the younger siblings. They would go once a month or once every two months. (23:37-28:10)... She had a maternal aunt in Pasadena who she would visit; she spent time during her Easter and summer vacations there. Her aunt was a school girl at the time, staying with a family. She would visit and just keep the grandmother of the house company. Her aunt stayed with the family into her thirties, finishing high school and even college while living there. She went to a junior college, then art school. (28:10-30:03)... Her father belonged to a fisherman's organization, which owned a large hall. The organization was very large because many of the men (about 700 families) were fishermen. (30:03-31:39)... The community on Terminal Island was very close. She felt that sometimes it was too close, especially since the houses were in such close proximity. (31:39-34:03)... Asked about her parents, she recalls that they didn't talk or teach her too much about being Japanese. When she visited Japan, she remembers feeling different from the students there. The other families in Japan would pray every morning. (34:03-38:30)... The schools in Japan were very strict. The Japanese students saw her as an American. She wore glasses, which other Japanese students did not do. She remembers having a hard time when she first started school in Japan, even though she could speak and write Japanese. She recounts a story about taking a trip on a train, where the boys and girls were strictly separated. She attended a Japanese girls school, with about 400 students. She was also part of a club, which had about 30 girls. (38:30-40:45)... Her mother came to Japan, then went back to the states, but after she fell ill she returned to Japan, where she died. Her parents had wanted to return to Japan once they had made enough money in the states. She stayed in Japan a total of six years. Her mother passed away about a year into her stay, and her father lived alone in the states for almost five years. Although she actually finished high school in Japan, she had to attend American high school for one and half years. (40:45-44:49)... While she was in Japan, war between Japan and China had erupted. All the young men had to serve in the army, which is why she and her brother hurried back to the United States. She remembers boys in America being drafted regularly, and with others in a club to which she belonged would see them off at the train station. She recalls that many people returned to the United States before the war, around 1940. Once she and her brother returned, they attended high school and lived with their father. She believes that there was quite a strong pro-Japanese sentiment on Terminal Island. end of tape *** File: timida4.mp3 (0:00-2:32)... She was surprised when the attack on Pearl Harbor occurred. The FBI came on a bus and many of the men were taken away. She dated when she was at Banning High School. It was not as strict as it was in Japan. She was surprised when the boys would talk to the teacher; this wasn't allowed in Japan. She did not have a hard time when she returned. Most of her friends were Nisei, as were the boys she dated. (2:32-5:08)... They mostly dated in groups, three or four couples. She used to go to formal dances. Her date for the senior prom had a car. When she was on the island she went to the beauty salon periodically to get a permanent. (5:08-8:11)... She met her husband soon after high school. Before she married, she had plans to go to college. During her senior year in high school, when she had her appendix out, one of the nurses encouraged her to go to college and become a nurse. She felt that it would be a good field. Her cousin encouraged her to get married; she liked her husband. Once she married she went to sewing school instead. She never spoke to her husband about college. She went to sewing school because there was nothing else to do. She only did personal sewing. (8:11-13:07)... When she was married her husbands family paid for the ceremony; they had a Christian wedding. They honeymooned in San Francisco and Monterey. She had never traveled much; people on Terminal Island did not take vacations. Later, when they had the market in New York they worked everyday. She has no children. At Manzanar she worked as a nutritionist for two years. She enjoyed the work. Employees were trained by a nurse. At the time she wanted to be a nurse and work at the hospital but she had to take care of her family: her husband, brother-in-law, her husband's uncle, and her brother. They had petitioned to be together in the camp. She had to do the laundry and other chores and had no time to work at the hospital. There was a designated wash area. Because it was so windy at Manzanar when they would hang their washing to dry it would get dirty. (13:07-18:55)... Her brother and brother-in-law laid linoleum while in the camp. She had to buy household items herself. Towards the end of their stay at Manzanar there was a store. She went to sewing, tailoring, and art school at night while in camp. She made a lot of new friends. When they first arrived at Manzanar, they couldn't do much and the food was awful. People were able to make their own food. Towards the end, there was a fish market, of which her husband was in charge. The fish was trucked in from San Pedro, purchased from an Italian family her husband knew. (18:55-23:00)... They farmed in Utah for one year with a friend; tomato and sugar beet share cropping. The government provided them with transportation there. She went with her husband, brother and another couple. They were not used to farming and it was difficult work. They all lived in a shack which was worse than their accommodations in camp. This was their first experience in the country. The people there were very old fashioned - they canned their own food. She worked in the fields and took care of the house. (23:00-25:36)... The other couple on the farm with them were the Takioshis, who were also from Terminal Island. Mr. Takioshi was a doctor on the Terminal Island. Life in Utah was very hard. They didn't make any money; they came out even. They were there for a year, in 1944. They decided to farm so that her husband and brother could be deferred from military service. (25:36-29:30)... While in New York her husband worked in the fish market. Many Japanese went to Sea Brook farm in New Jersey, which specialized in frozen seafood. In New York they lived in an apartment and paid $24 for a two bedroom, one bath apartment. The government paid for all of their moving expenses. They lived in New York for several years and while they were there she had the opportunity to travel a little with her husband because they had their weekends free. During this whole time she continued to correspond with friends. (29:30-35:12)... She worked with Italian and Jewish refugees who didn't speak very much English. Many of the people she worked with were well educated and had businesses in Europe before the war. Her boss was from Vienna and hated Germans. She was the first Japanese person to be hired by the company where she worked. One time she asked her boss for a week vacation, which she was given along with several hundred dollars. He explained that since he didn't report her income to the government, the cash he gave her was what she would have paid in taxes. Because of this arrangement her husband could file her as a dependent on their tax forms. (35:12-38:59)... They had a hard time when they went looking for an apartment in New York. When she went to look for a better apartment, one of the landladies looked like she didn't like Japanese, so Ida pretended to be Chinese. The landlady told her she didn't like Chinese but preferred Japanese people. They ended up living in a white, middle class neighborhood. People were generally nice. She remembers going to a neighbors wedding. They were able to save some more money when they were in New York; they had money for clothes, for eating out, which they were never able to do when she lived on Terminal Island. She went dancing at nightclubs with her husband and friends. Life was completely different in New York. (38:59-41:39)... When they came back to California her husband looked for a business. They ended up buying a market. Business was really good in the beginning. They co-owned the store with her husband's uncle. Her brother and his wife lived with them for a while. They started the store in 1946 and have owned it since. She worked every day, cashiering, and keeping the books. (41:39-45:12)... When many of the Japanese began returning to California, they lived in hotels. For a while after the war, the community continued to feel close knit. They sold typical Japanese food at the market that she and her husband ran. For about a year after they returned to California, she continued sewing in order to supplement their income. All of their money went into the store. A lot of "colored" people lived in the neighborhood. [Note: During the war, the Little Tokyo area became known as Brownsville, after many Blacks move there.] end of tape
- SUBJECT BIO - Miyo Higashi Ida was born on Terminal Island to parents who were both from Wakayama prefecture. Her father was a fisherman, and her mother was a homemaker. During her junior year in high school, her parents returned with the family to Japan. She and her siblings remained in Japan with their grandparents until her mother's untimely death in 1938, at which time they returned to Terminal Island. Although she was interested in becoming a nurse, she was encouraged to marry instead. Her husband had a partnership in a grocery store on Terminal Island until they were evacuated in 1942 and sent to Manzanar. After leaving Manzanar, they farmed in Utah for a short time, then moved to New York where she worked as a seamstress. They return to California in 1947 and purchased a market in Little Tokyo (Ida Market), which they were still operating at the time of the interview. INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - In this second interview, Ida provides more detail about some of the traditional Japanese celebrations and activities on Terminal Island when she was growing up, as well as the experiences of Nisei like her who were sent back to Japan for some schooling. TOPICS - mother's activities; holidays and celebrations; recreational activities; experiences of Nisei in Japan; nationalism;dating on Terminal Island; career aspirations; marriage; life and work in Manzanar; farm life in Utah; move and work in New York; return to Los Angeles; development of grocery store business in L;A;
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