<Begin Segment 17>

JA: You mentioned that you had chores before going to school and you took the school bus. Where was the school located?

MH: The school is located right in Bellevue right where the Bellevue Park is right now, and so we have a cherry tree planted there, too, in memory of the Japanese people. It was done a few years ago there by the Historical Society, and it's right on the Main Street... it's, it's north of Main, and... north of Main and about right there by Frederick and Nelson -- Nordstrom and the shopping mall, right near the shopping mall.

JA: So this was between Old Bellevue and what we know as Bellevue Square now.

MH: That's right. That's where the elementary school was and my high school was right across the street from that. That is torn down now, too. It was Union S. High School. And my brother (...) came home (from camp) and went to that high school, too.

JA: So how large was your elementary school?

MH: My elementary school had about 350 students, the grand total, and had eight classrooms.

JA: And the school day would last how long?

MH: Eight hours. We had to stay a whole day, not like the students now.

JA: And then you returned to the farm for another whole day's worth of work. [Laughs]

MH: Another whole day's work. That's right. [Laughs]

JA: So while you were a student in your elementary school days, did you feel different than your Caucasian schoolmates?

MH: No, I didn't. They were all so sincere and so good, and they all wanted me to come over and visit with them and everything else. And so a lot of time the reason I enjoy walking with them is I walk home and visit with them all the way home. They lived on Wilburton Hill, where the Bellevue Botanical Garden is right now. So we walk up that hill and I visit with them, and then I walk across the railroad track and got down to my place, home, so... but it was fun visiting with them. They were so good to me all the years. I've known some of them for twelve years, and then when I came back, they were there for me and saw me. One was a manager at the Bellevue Bank and he came to see me and things like that. So my friendship with the Caucasians has been a long-term thing.

JA: When you say "come back," I imagine you're talking about evacuation.

MH: From evacuation camp, yes.

<End Segment 17> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.