<Begin Segment 9>

TI: Now, your, your neighborhood, I mean, would you think of it as, more as the fringe of sort of the Japanese community?

YN: Fringe in the sense of community, but the Japanese American community was very evident because they were there. Because there were places that we all garnered together, but it was the start of being away from the centralized Japanese American community, which businesses were around Main Street, and the International District. This was, then maybe you could have called the "new suburbia" for Japanese Americans.

TI: Well, that's what, yeah, I was curious, because I mean, we're only talking literally just blocks, but was it different if you went, oh, just really, literally maybe four blocks over to Collins Playfield, would the, sort of the makeup of the kids playing there be different than...?

YN: It would be different because of this: I am certain the influence of that time, certain things were very strong influences. Business was one, the other influence of our community was the churches. The Buddhist Church had influence to the makeup of the Japanese American community. The Japanese Baptist Church had the influence upon the community as the Japanese Baptist Church. By its leadership that solidified because of a person named Reverend Emery E. Andrews, who was not Japanese American, but he was a part of the fabric of the Japanese Baptist Church. But what he did was for the community of Japanese Americans. So his name today is known among the community, as well as those of the Japanese Baptist Church. That to me is the start of what I call the ecumenical movements, that we as Japanese Americans were forced to have in internment.

TI: So this is interesting, and I want to get into this a little bit more. So starting with the differences, so we're talking about Collins Playfield, which is right across the street from the Buddhist Church.

YN: The Buddhist Church.

TI: And then your neighborhood, which was closer to the, the Japanese Baptist Church. And you talked about how the religion or the churches played a part in, in some ways, how... in some ways, how the playfields were different. I mean, talk a little bit more -- and you mentioned the Baptist Church having Reverend Andrews who, who really catered to or ministered to the Japanese American community, but he was, he was white.

YN: Right.

TI: What were some of the, how did those differences manifest themselves? I mean, what, what did you, how could you see the difference?

YN: The beauty of reflection is, you see, he was smart enough to not let religion be divisive. He found something called the Boy Scouts. So many of the community were Boy Scouts, so they came to Boy Scouts. They, it was very interesting. We went to Collins Field House, it was neutral. So we all played with kids that were other than our group; white kids, black kids, Asian kids, Chinese and Filipinos and then Japanese. So we were, we were blessed in the essence that what I have been saying to myself, we weren't "ghettoed" by the strength of a Japanese American ghetto. Now, the internment created that because we couldn't come back. When we left internment we had no place to go back to, let alone any, any material thing. We didn't have furniture, we didn't have anything but a hundred bucks.

TI: But, but the years -- again, from a youngster's perspective -- so there was a sense of a lot of mixing with other races and everything before, before the war.

YN: Absolutely.

TI: At places like Collins Playfield, which was really almost in the heart of the Japanese American community.

YN: Right. The more we were forced by our environment, changes your perception as you become an adult. And not always good, but as a child, I like to think that that's what happened. And my life experiences were all that way except my internment. When we were all Japanese, except my authority was white America.

TI: Well, and then so when you, when you say your authority's white America, we were talking earlier about Reverend Andrews...

YN: Right.

TI: ...who is an authority figure, but yet did a lot to create community.

YN: Absolutely.

TI: And not just within the Baptist faith, but, and let's talk a little bit, the Boy Scouts. So Boy Scouts you had, I imagine, other Protestants...

YN: Other religions, other religions.

TI: Buddhists...

YN: Those who didn't have religion at all to those who were other religions, or other denominations, whatever you want to use. That was consistent with his understanding and leadership. You see, we didn't recognize the difference. I assumed this is the way it always would be.

<End Segment 9> - Copyright © 2004 Densho. All Rights Reserved.