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AI: Well, now at this time in your life, you not only have your three children, you also have grandchildren now. And I'm wondering as you think of them and the next generations to come, do you have any thoughts for them? Anything that you would like to pass on or any other words reflecting back here as we come to the end of the interview?

PB: Yeah. I have five grandchildren, four grandsons and one granddaughter. And whenever I get together with them, which I try to as often as possible, I will always encourage them whatever I talk about is to carry on and the work. Be good Americans. Study hard. That's one thing. If they study hard, they will accomplish what they want to do. And to never forget their parents and who their parents are. And I think that because of it, I analyze some of my older grandchildren now and they're doing well. Now, it doesn't have to be only in the area of education, but I encourage them, I have one grandson who's very good in sports. And about three of them are very good musicians. And they play the piano and the violin and all that. So I encourage them in these areas, because I think that getting assimilated in all the educational areas, the sports area, the community as a whole, what they're going to do is to be a good American, and they're going to prove to the rest of the world that they're good citizens. And I think that's very important.

AI: Is there anything else that you would like to say or touch on?

PB: No. This is something I didn't know about until I got your fax and the letter and the phone calls. I think it's a program that is something that should be retained. I'm glad that whoever thought about it in putting all this together, and putting it on tape and writing and everything is going to do good. Now, the reason I say it's doing good, it's just like I talked about retaining monuments and things of this nature, it retains for future generations some of the things that they ought to know about, about the accomplishments of their forefathers, and I think that's very important. Now, one of the things I think I might have mentioned or may not have mentioned is the diary that my grandfather kept when he came from Japan. My father did a very remarkable job in writing down all the reasons why he came, what he did, how much he made in potatoes, what kind of work he did, the hardships he had, things of this nature. I think this is good because I read it, and it inspired me to do as much if not more. He was never disappointed. He had debts and he couldn't make enough money to support the family. But the things that he did after he got injured and wanted to support the family, I think it was an inspiration to me that I would be the same way with my family and to keep a record of all that. I keep a record of everything that I do, and then some day maybe my children and grandchildren will be able to look at it and says, "Well, that guy was a busy guy, but" -- [laughs] So that's part of it. So I think that the project of this type is very important, that it's for the future generation, not for now. But later on people are going to look back and say, "Hey, that's very, very good."

AI: Well, Mr. Bannai, thank you very much for the interview and all your information, experiences and insights.

PB: Good.

AI: Appreciate it.

PB: Enjoyed it.

<End Segment 25> - Copyright © 2000 Densho. All Rights Reserved.