13. Camaraderie among people in Japan Town, and their support for performing arts at Nishi Hongwanji auditorium, Nisei Week, etc.

It’s amazing to me, as I look back on my childhood in J-Town, that you could walk around, and they’ll say, “Oh, your mom’s at the grocery store. Don’t get lost!”, you know, and they would tease me like that. Everyone knew everyone else. They delivered your things to that house. There were markets, and although there were several markets, they always met with one another to make sure one would have a sale and the other two would not, and they would take turns doing their sales so that they would not disturb one another’s business. It was that kind of camaraderie and respect that you found throughout Japanese town. And they were all very supportive of the arts and so many of them would sponsor or donate to that cause. We often had, let’s say there were concerts, very careful so we would not conflict. We had programs, once or twice a year at Nishi Hongwanji, their auditorium. And then, the dancers would have theirs, the biwa (Japanese lute) players would have theirs, the nagauta senseis would have theirs, the shigin people would have their activities, this was all going on. It was just remarkable! So, you had shigin, often with kembu, which is the dance that accompanies the shigin. And, it was just a very active time. And then, whenever there was Nisei Week, of course, they had a variety show. The Nisei’s with talent took part in that. And there were a number of outstanding people.

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