<Begin Segment 12>

AH: When you went to the university, I know at the time that the war broke out, there were a lot of Nisei students at the University of Washington. And so, you weren't one of the first ones there because they at least had been coming since 1930 or before. But did you get involved at all with Nisei at the university? Like through your major, through engineering, or through Japanese student clubs? Like you said your dad had helped support the club.

JA: Not really. I'd studied with probably with maybe one or two Japanese Americans, you know, Nisei, and that was about it. Beyond that, everything was with Caucasians. And not trying to discriminate Niseis, you know, but to me they were easy to talk to and whatever I said, we had very good communication. With Japanese Americans, you had to kind of second guess them. What they'd tell me and what they'd do, is not the same.

AH: Okay, so you had some suspicions about the way in which the community worked? You weren't sure that you could be straight? Is that what you're saying?

JA: Well, no, it's not... you know there's that fine line. I'd just as soon stay away from them, than to get involved with them. So if I got involved with the guys I went to school with or I turned out for sports with, I felt more comfortable with them. And therefore I expanded on that more than on the Japanese Americans.

AH: Now, these feelings didn't come out of a vacuum, they must have come out of experiences you had. Were there experiences -- talk to me a little about -- you don't have to recall everyone, but what kinds of things led you to say, "I think I'd better keep this at arm's length."

JA: Well, the biggest thing was, I had more fun with them. Everything I did, I went... well, at that time, Japanese Americans didn't go camping, didn't go hiking, they didn't do hunting, they didn't do a lot of things of which I want to do. Niseis wouldn't do, so I went with these Caucasians. And once you go camping and hunting together, you get closer and closer. And not trying to stay away from, but they weren't interesting to me, they weren't doing things that I, as an American, would like to do. Hunting -- yeah, fishing and taking packs and walking across the Olympic peninsula or going from one pass to another across Cascades. And there's no Niseis doing that, and that was my interest and that's why, that's where I was going towards. Because here the Nisei are talking about whatever, their little things, J-town thing, and that wasn't, like my father said, that's not Seattle or that's not America. You've got to get out, get out.

AH: What about the other students that were in engineering, the Nisei students, did they tend to be narrow and focused on engineering?

JA: That's right, they were focused on their studies, I mean, no monkey business. To me, okay, I studied, but yet I also went out with other people.

<End Segment 12> - Copyright © 1997 Densho. All Rights Reserved.