<Begin Segment 44>

AI: Now, what would you be doing, during --

GY: Okay. Yes. My purpose of going to Japan as far as the school district was concerned was to observe the art program in the elementary schools. So I bought me a brand-new Nikon camera, which I carried in my left hand. Heavy, heavy camera. And I'd take the train and go to different schools and meet a teacher, talk to him, observe the kids, talk to the kids, take photographs, chit-chit-chit. And it was great. And, and he would say, "Well, why don't you go to this school here," and introduce me to so-and-so and do that. So I spent a whole year doing that, going to different schools. And one day I was invited to a art teachers' conference way up there in northern part of Aomori. I think it was Aomori, north, Sendai? The northern -- Aomori. Is that a ken? Sendai. Well, anyway, northern part of Japan. Teachers from Tokyo took a train, overnight train, and they would meet at this -- I guess it was a ryokan of some sort, the inn of some sort. And it was so neat because they sat to talk about philosophy in terms of elementary education. They learned a few techniques, and some people -- teachers demonstrated. It was a teachers meeting. And it was, it was kind of neat, very... felt very much at home, yeah, with these people. And I was impressed with their, their really conscientious effort to provide art for them, (the children), at their level, to have them enjoy the art process. They said, here's an apple. Doesn't matter what it looks like to you. That's an apple. That's her, his or her work. And dig it, kind of thing. That was nice.

AI: Well, so you felt very much at home among these Japanese art teachers.

GY: Well, yeah -- yes and no. Yeah, the teachers, yes. Go ahead. I'm sorry.

AI: Well, please tell me more about "yes and no."

GY: Well, yeah, the teachers fine. And I enjoyed their, the teaching style, their philosophy toward education in art for the children. It's something we rarely did. But the interesting part of it was that I took some of the works of, artworks of children from our school, Washington School, and my work and the other teachers' works, so I had a real good collection of different techniques. And I had a display, received permission to display at one of the big department stores, sponsored by Crayola Company. And it said, "Artwork" -- in Nihongo -- "Artwork from Washington School, Berkeley, California, Yoshida Joji, Sensei" or something like that. In Nihongo. It was really a nice exhibit. And so, the public was invited to attend, so forth. It was kind of interesting because every so often, we'd have people, white folks from the Occupation, maybe wives who were wandering and see this work and say, hey, lookit, gee, isn't it wonderful, the Japanese art? Work that the kids in Japan do, not realizing it's from United States. [Laughs]

<End Segment 44> - Copyright © 2002 Densho. All Rights Reserved.