<Begin Segment 48>

AI: Well, so when, as you were in Japan, then how, I'm curious about, you know, after all these years in the U.S., and you had become a U.S. citizen, and pretty much treated as a, as a U.S citizen, but going to Japan, did that, did you feel Japanese, or did it make you feel more American, or how, maybe that didn't occur to you? I'm just wondering, did it go through your mind at all?

AS: No.

AI: Not really. And did people in Japan pretty much treat you as a Nisei, American Nisei?

AS: Oh yeah. Because, because of the accent, because I still don't speak like a native, I mean, Japanese national.

AI: So, a Japanese national, when they hear you speaking Japanese, to them it sounds like you have an American accent? Is that how it...

AS: Well, not so much accent, but I don't, I don't use the big words, so right away they know. Like, like watching, when I watch the news in Japanese, I can't follow it. You know, it's too hard. Because they use too many big words, so the same thing when I speak, I don't, I don't use those words so right away they know I'm not a Japanese national.

AI: Well, it sounds like that was a really amazing trip for you and Betty.

AS: Oh, it was, yeah.

AI: And to, and to also be able to go to Fukuoka where your family was from.

AS: Japan is kinda funny, you know. Like when I went to Fukuoka and my cousin took us to this place where the cemetery was and all this and different places, and then he says to me, "You like unagi?" Unagi, you know, was eel. And I said, "Oh yeah." He says, "Oh," he says, "we'll go eat lunch there, there's a good place." So then we went over there and we ate unagi and sure enough, that place, the unagi is really good, you know. And so then we went back to, to Fukuoka city, where the other cousin, the other cousins are. And so he dropped us off at this doctor's home and we, down there, and then she, he said he had to go because he had to work next day at school, and he has some things to do. So then, so then the other cousin says, the wife of the, the doctor, says, "What did you guys have for, where did you go to lunch?" We said, "Oh, we went to this place where there's unagi." And he says, "Oh," he said, "That's really good." He says, "We can't even get it here." He says, "You, if you, if I want that unagi," he says, "I have to go over there and eat it." [Laughs]

AI: So something really special.

AS: Yeah, you know, it's not that far from there. And yet, he says that's the only place you can get it. It's funny in Japan.

AI: It is. That's right.

AS: Oh, like you go on the train, you go to, say like this ken is famous for a certain thing. Then you leave that ken and go to the next one, you can't buy that stuff anymore, even on the train.

AI: Right.

AS: So, I couldn't believe that.

AI: It's a different kind of set-up.

AS: Yes. Oh, that's another thing, the bullet train, amazing. You know, like, like when we, when we left Okayama it was pretty close to lunchtime, but we had a schedule on the train, the train schedule. So then we got on the, we went to the station and then Betty's cousin bought us bento. So then we get the bento, and then on the train we order tea. And they give you a bottle of tea and then you can pour in the cup. The cup was only, maybe like that, like, like those sake glasses, that size. So I pour that thing and put it on the window sill on the bullet train. And the bullet train started moving and got it up to whatever it is, hundred and fifty miles an hour, whatever, didn't even drop a single drop. That's how smooth that shinkansen is. I said, "Wow," I couldn't believe it. [Laughs] Like here... [pantomimes rough motion of train]

AI: That is really something.

AS: Yeah. I was really impressed by that.

AI: Were there other things that kind of stood out in your mind about Japan?

AS: Well, we were on the bottom of Fujisan. And that day it was so clear, no clouds, real clear. And then that evening it got kind of, although we missed that thing. Our friend said that they were out there and it turned red, you know, the sky turned red and it was really pretty. But, then later we found out that very seldom Fujisan has a, doesn't have a sky -- I mean, clouds. See, most of the time you can't even see the top.

AI: Wow, so you were lucky.

AS: Yeah, we were really lucky.

AI: An unusual day.

<End Segment 48> - Copyright © 2003 Densho. All Rights Reserved.