<Begin Segment 5>

TI: So let's go to your family life. When you went home, what language did you speak with your parents?

FS: We spoke Japanese. That was, well... [laughs] it was one of those things, you know. They, they didn't, particularly Mom, didn't speak much English. She gradually, she learned a little bit, but she could go to the grocery store or whatever and do all right, but at home, at supper, we talked Japanese, and I can recall that we had incidents where we would jabber away in English and we did call down for it. I think this is probably universally true of a first-generation family, the parents partly felt left out. But it was not always easy to speak, speak Japanese. We, we just didn't have the vocabulary to make ordinary family conversation.

TI: So normally at dinner, would the whole family eat together?

FS: Yes, yes. We always ate together.

TI: Well, so tell me about your, what was your father like? How would you describe your father?

FS: My dad was, well, first of all, he was really hard-working. He, he would, he'd just work hard, and, and he was a disciplinarian. He expected us to obey if he said something, that was, that was the word, and I think it's typical of Japanese families, they, they're brought up to obey their father. Yeah, he was, he was just, he expected that, and you dare not, dare not... I don't think I ever talked back to him. I don't think anybody ever talked back to him.

TI: Now, how would he enforce his, his discipline?

FS: No, he would just, he, I don't think he ever hit anybody, but, or paddled them, but he could just stare you down, and when his voice got harsh, you realized that you had, you had crossed the line, and you just backed off. I, I don't remember anybody ever really challenging him when we were kids.

TI: Now, you were the third son...

FS: I was the third son.

TI: ...so you would watch him probably raise your older brothers. Was he harder on the firstborn son, do you think, or was it pretty much the same?

FS: I think he was fair, although, although as in most Japanese families, the greatest expectation is for the first son. And my oldest brother George was a really bright kid, and so I know they had, they had great expectations for him.

TI: So did he get preferential treatment, from your perspective?

FS: Oh, I don't think so, but he, I think the expectation was that he would, they wanted, they wanted him to, to lead the family.

TI: Okay, so you talked about your father, so he's somewhat of a disciplinarian. What about your mother, what was she like?

FS: Well, I don't think she ever challenged him when, when things got rough. She, she was, again, a good Japanese wife. I think she probably worked harder than he did, because she raised the family and she also did all the cooking and caregiving. My dad mostly worked, and that's my recollection, he was just a really hard-working guy.

TI: So I'm curious, when your, the family's all together, or maybe just one on one, did your parents ever talk to you about being Nihonjin, Japanese, and that, and that there were different expectations, or that it meant, or what did that mean to you, being Japanese?

FS: Well, you know, the Japanese have this business of shame and disgrace, I think, haji, I think. And things like gaman and those kind of things. And those are the kind of things that I would hear. You just, you're gonna have to take that. You just, you were, they had expectations of all of us, that we would, that we would obey, we would work hard, and we would not talk back.

TI: And would that, how would that translate to, like, say, schoolwork? What would they say about school?

FS: Yeah, well, they expected us, they expected us to go to school and learn, and be good students. It was, it's one of those, my, my oldest brother was really the bright guy, and that was the expectation for the other brothers then, too. We had to excel like he did, and it was not easy if you don't, if you don't have as many gray cells as he does, it was hard.

TI: So was George the type to be, like, top of the class?

FS: Oh, yeah, he was always the top of the class. Learned quickly, learned easily, and so he, he would get the kind of grades that, that parents were really proud of. And the rest of us were just kind of in a hole, I think. It was, it was never easy for us, and he, somewhere along the line, something got left out for me. For instance, my two older brothers were really good at mathematics and algebra and stuff, and I think those things you're born with. I, I just had a terrible time with things like algebra and geometry and stuff. It just wouldn't come. And I recognize it as one of those kind of limitations that, that you have, and I just, it, I could never really do that very well.

TI: Well, how about the expectations of teachers? Because of your, your older brothers, and so were there certain expectations...

FS: Oh, yeah.

TI: And did that make it easier or harder for you?

FS: Oh, it made it harder. I can recall in high school, the teachers were the same. And I'd get this, "God, your brothers were so bright in this, I don't understand why you can't do this stuff." [Laughs] You know, it's kind of, I just feel like I just somehow just, somebody short-changed me on those things.

TI: Well, growing up then, what were, what were some of the things that you enjoyed doing or that you were good at?

FS: Oh, God, I don't know, I don't think I was good at anything, to tell you the truth -- [laughs] -- when you think back on it. I did, I made friends easily and stuff like that, but in school I was really not very good. But I, I did socialize some, and as we talked, at some point I, I was active in high school and belonged to various organizations. I joined the track team, I was never very good at that, either, but I did join and made friends.

<End Segment 5> - Copyright © 2006 Densho. All Rights Reserved.