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TI: And then let's talk about that. So as an adolescent, and you started, the world started getting bigger, what type of things would happen then?

JY: Well, just before teenagers we were scout age, we'd have interaction with other scout groups. My father had started a Boy Scout troop, so there were about thirty boys in that troop. And all the surrounding neighborhood Boy Scout troops would get together, these were mostly Caucasian troops, and we would interact with them at any competitive gatherings, scout activities.

TI: I'm curious, so you mentioned the scouts, which was started by your father, associated with the church, was there any special pressure on you being the minister's son? I mean, were there, like, more expectations for you to be better or to be smarter or to be more obedient than the other boys because your dad was the minister?

JY: I can't think of his pressuring me. He was pretty much leave you alone except if there was anything that had to be around the church, we were expected to do it the same as the sons of the gardeners who were most of the, good segment of the families, the fathers were gardeners. And he'd always remind us that, hey, they're helping the dad mow the lawns or help the father in gardening, and that the least we could do was whatever he expected to help support his work.

TI: Or how about a situation like this? Maybe not so much your parents, but if you're out in the community, and say you're kind of horsing around with your friends, and then maybe another Issei would say, "Oh, you shouldn't do that, you're Reverend Yamazaki's son."

JY: Well, they were very indirect about those things. They were very friendly, so one of the things that the working people did after a day's hard labor was before going home, they'd go play pool. There was a pool table behind the barber shop that was connected to the barber shop. And we would, of course, wander in and see what they were doing, and there'd be a little competition for a little money.

TI: Gambling and that kind of stuff?

JY: Yeah, a little. And then one of the, I can remember one of the fellows saying to his friends, "Hey, watch your language, the bokushi no ko is there, the preacher's son's here." [Laughs] But they would say it in jest, but at least we would feel singled out when he said that.

TI: How would you feel when you were singled out like that? Was it embarrassing?

JY: Well, a little embarrassed, but not too much more than that. I knew it was a friendly comment, that they weren't angry at us or anything, it was just a passing remark.

TI: That's good. I want to talk more about your dad, but before we do that, when you were a young boy, your grandmother from Japan, she came to live with you.

JY: Yes.

TI: What was that like?

JY: It was quite a remarkable transition because we obtained a, my father was in Japan, and there was a phone call to my mother, and my father wanted me to talk to the, all the children to talk to the grandmother. And my grandmother wanted a direct response from my mother, who she welcomed, and, of course, my mother said yes. So that was sealed, and tremendous excitement that the grandmother was going to come into our lives.

TI: Now, why was she coming from Japan? Was there something that happened in Japan that made it make sense for her to come to the United States?

JY: Yes. By then, my father was the only remaining Yamazaki, and she was getting older, I guess, approaching seventeen. It's certainly in the older age group. And it's felt that she shouldn't be living by herself and that one of the sons should look after her. And she was adamant about not going to a family that didn't have the Yamasaki name, to a yoshi family. And so the only alternative was coming to the United States, and she was asked if she was willing to do that, and she was agreeable to it.

TI: Was that the only alternative? Or I was wondering, as you were talking, I wonder if there was pressure on your father to actually move back to Japan and bring one or two of his sons to keep the Yamazaki name going in Japan.

JY: Oh, we were so young, we couldn't fulfill any of the...

TI: But your father could have moved back to Japan and carried on the name. I mean, I was just wondering if there was any pressure for him to return permanently to Japan at this point.

JY: I don't know if there was or not. He seemed to enjoy his trips to Japan very much.

TI: Now, why would he go to Japan? What was going back and forth to Japan about?

JY: Well, there's no other members of the family here. He had one brother there that still survived, and all of his relatives were there. And so he thoroughly enjoyed his trip to Japan.

TI: And who would pay for those trips?

JY: Somehow he was able to maneuver that. I often wonder myself how he managed that on a minister's salary.

<End Segment 7> - Copyright © 2005 Densho. All Rights Reserved.