<Begin Segment 9>

TI: What were some of the, like, fond memories of Japan for you? What kind of things do you remember that were like playing or friendships? What do you remember about Japan?

GH: I did enter high school in Japan, and I think the first year I did join the track team. Also, well, for one, all the students were very considerate. I mean, they were very friendly, they were very helpful, and I was able to help them with English, so we did get along very well. The third year, I became one of the moral officer.

TI: Before we go there, I want to go back a little bit. So you went two years in grammar school, Japanese school, and you finished then. And earlier, your father said, "Well, go to school for two years, and then you can come back."

GH: Uh-huh.

TI: So after you finished sort of that grammar school, why didn't you go back to...

GH: Well, I took the exam and I failed for high school.

TI: So, chugakko. You took the exam for that and you failed.

GH: Uh-huh. And that really bothered me, so I tried, gave it another try and I was successful. And when I got in, I called my father to say that I had completed my end of the deal, and I was ready to come home. And that's when he said, "Your ticket will be forthcoming when you graduate." [Laughs]

TI: So let me, so you, you did those first two years, then you took the test for chugakko, you failed, and you failed, actually, a couple times, or one time?

GH: No, one time.

TI: One time. And then you took it again and you passed, and at that point, your father said, well, now that you're accepted to chugakko, he wanted you to continue to go to school.

GH: Yeah, finish, yeah.

TI: So how did you feel about that?

GH: Well, I didn't have any choice. [Laughs]

TI: But then how, but how'd you feel about it? Were you...

GH: Well, I'm glad I stayed, because I did, I made many friends, and I did learn the language, which came in very handy.

TI: But in terms of just your, your feeling, so you're glad it happened, but do you remember when your father said, "You have to stay and finish chugakko," were you sort of happy, disappointed?

GH: Well, I'll tell you the truth, it was very difficult. [Laughs] And I was ready to come home, but when he said the ticket will not be forthcoming until I graduate, I just settled down and did my best.

TI: When you said it was difficult, what were the things that made it difficult?

GH: Especially the Chinese classic was very difficult for me.

TI: So the schoolwork was hard, and you were ready to come back.

GH: Well, those high school, to enter high schools, they accepted 150, there was over 350 applicants. So it was very...

TI: So it was very competitive.

GH: Very competitive, yeah.

TI: Well, what's interesting is, what's appearing is how, how headstrong you are. I mean, your decision to go to Japan, I mean, you wanted to go to Japan. You said you would swim across the Pacific to go there, so your dad let you. And then your determination to get accepted to chugakko, and then, and then sticking it out. I mean, it's pretty, pretty impressive. Did you ever get homesick for your, your brothers and sisters and your mother and father?

GH: Oh yeah, sure, sure.

TI: Did you write very often?

GH: I used to write, and of course, as time went on, my English seemed to fail me. But I did try to write, yeah.

TI: Did your, did any of your, your immediate family members ever visit Japan, like your brothers and sisters?

GH: My oldest brother Martin, he did get a grant to Kyoto Imperial University.

TI: Oh, that's, so he was going to school in the United States, and got a grant to go to a school in...

GH: Well, he graduated from the University of Washington, and matter of fact, he was a Phi Beta Kappa, but there was no work available then. He did serve as a T.A. but you can't make a living as a T.A., Teacher's Assistant. So my father had a friend in Japan, Professor Abe, at Kyoto Imperial University, and I think he got a grant there.

TI: And how well did your brother speak Japanese?

GH: Well, he was there for a very short while. He came in 1940, and when I graduated, he said, "Grant, you better go home." He said the situation between the two countries is such that he would recommend that I go home. So when I graduated, I had a ticket in one hand for trip home, and diploma in the other. And when I asked my brother when he was coming back, he said he was in close contact with the consulate, and that he would return at first notice. So he came back in April of 1941.

TI: So even in 1940, your brother had this sense, he got information from someplace that indicated that there was going to be tension or something happening between Japan and the United States?

GH: He was in close contact with the consulate, yeah.

TI: Do you recall whether or not your brother thought that it was actually going to be a war between the United States and Japan, or what did he say?

GH: He didn't quite say. He said the relationship is such that I should return. I think he did sense that there was a possible, possibility of a war, yes.

<End Segment 9> - Copyright © 2006 Densho. All Rights Reserved.