10/15/82


 Masuko Kamiya


Masuko Dorothy Kamiya Suga was born in 1917, the fourth

child in the Kamiya family, between Frank and Kazuo.


When her personal recollections of Yamato begin the Kamiya

store already had gas pumps. Mules and hand plows were

still used to farm. Eventually they bought a tractor.


She remembers very rich black dirt. Tiny insects which

lived in the muck caused muck itch; the children had to

go home and take a bath to get rid of them.


The Kamiyas did not have a Japanese style ofuro (bath), but

the Sakais (first cousins) did. It was a wooden ofuro.

The Kamiyas got rid of it after they moved into the old

Sakai house, whether because of dampness in the wood or

simply because it was considered old-fashioned and undesirable

she does not remember.


Editor's Note: When using an ofuro the bather soaps up
 and rinses the body before entering the
 deep tub; thus many bathers can use the
 same hot water for soaking without dirtying
 the water. The water is almost unbearably hot.

She does not remember being bothered by heat, humidity and

insects. Children seem not to mind such things.