<Begin Segment 22>

[Translated from Japanese]

TY: I would like to hear once again about your experiences when you came to Fresno and Seattle. I bet you had some kind of expectations about America before you came.

YI: I didn't have much expectation.

TY: Is that right? I bet you expected that America would be mostly Caucasians in terms of race. Did you think America would be a country of Caucasians?

YI: I knew that.

TY: Still you must have met some people other than the Caucasians. Hispanics or Native Americans.

YI: African Americans.

TY: Yes, African Americans.

YI: I did not give much thought to that. Nothing. I just thought there would be all Caucasians. I did not know that there were so many different races.

TY: Did you find out right after you got off the ship?

YI: I saw no one but Caucasians in San Francisco. That city. They were in a bad area.

TY: Were there more in Fresno or Seattle? Those people?

YI: African American?

TY: Yes, and others.

YI: In Seattle... There were many Mexicans in Fresno. It is close. In Seattle I lived on Rainier Way near the lake. In Medanai...the area called Medina.

Shinya: Madrona.

YI: Medo... the Rainier Way area. It was near the lake. It was the end of the bus route. The area was mostly Caucasians first and then more African Americans moved in while I lived there. Now I hear more Caucasians live there again.

TY: Were you surprised? To find the kind of people you did not expect.

YI: No, I was not surprised.

TY: You were not surprised. There were various kinds of racial discrimination. Against Asians, no, against Japanese. Didn't you hear about that before you came?

YI: A thing against the Japanese? Let me think. I did not hear much. Not much.

TY: Then after you came, after you started living here, did you experience any bigotry?

YI: Bigotry?

TY: Have you experienced any racial prejudice?

YI: Against Japanese? Let me think. I read in the newspaper about the anti-Japanese movement.

TY: You did not expect such a thing, did you?

YI: I had no idea.

TY: Then...

YI: I just lived among the Japanese.

TY: That's right. At the temple. It was the center of the Japanese American community.

YI: Since I lived at the temple, I saw only Japanese. I rarely saw Caucasians. There was a Caucasian Shinto group. My husband and Mrs. Pratt visited and talked to the group. Once a month. In those days there were quite a few Caucasians coming to the temple.

TY: Then you did not experience any prejudice?

YI: Since I did not understand English very well. The Caucasian group was named Byakudokai. In the olden days.

TY: Byakudokai?

YI: Byakudo. That means a white path. That was for the Caucasians.

TY: Was it in Tacoma?

YI: What?

TY: Was it in Tacoma?

YI: No. It was this way. From Tacoma Reverend Pratt came to our office. A woman.

TY: Did your husband give a sermon in English?

YI: No. He could read and write in English, but speaking was difficult. He rarely did. Since he spoke to the first generation. All the second generation also understood Japanese. In my days we used that almost always. Japanese. Among the second generation there were two or three ministers. They were often invited to give a talk. The very first person who became a minister is still alive. Where was he? Where? Reverend Tsunoda. Fresno or somewhere. He is still alive. There was one person who became a minister from Seattle area. Reverend Kumata. He went to Japan and died in Japan. He was once a head minister of the Seattle temple.

<End Segment 22> - Copyright © 1999 Densho. All Rights Reserved.