Densho Digital Archive
Densho Visual History Collection
Title: Lillian Sato Interview
Narrator: Lillian Sato
Interviewer: Megan Asaka
Location: Denver, Colorado
Date: July 6, 2008
Densho ID: denshovh-slillian-01-0005

<Begin Segment 5>

MA: So what are some memories you have of Santa Monica and the neighborhood you lived in?

LS: Well, I know that we used to go with all our friends, walk down to the beach, and then we went to Japanese school, and we'd go there after the hakujin no, you know, the American school at the, be at the Japanese school about three o'clock. And then we studied there 'til five, and then walked home. And then during the summer, we went all summer, and at the end of the school year there, which would be in August, about the middle of August, I think, if I remember right, then we'd have a great big wiener bake on the beach. The whole school, Japanese school would go there, and that was a lot of fun. And it would be at nighttime.

MA: Would all the families come, too?

LS: Families and all the kids, uh-huh, yeah.

MA: Who were your teachers at Japanese school?

LS: Their name was Ono, Mr. and Mrs. Ono.

MA: Oh, so it was a couple that would teach.

LS: Uh-huh, and then they had a son and a daughter.

MA: And there the Onos, where they Isseis?

LS: Yes. Well, Mrs. Ono actually, they said she was from Fort Lupton, Colorado, here. And I guess they'd met through arranged marriage, and then they went to Santa Monica and started teaching there.

MA: So did you speak Japanese primarily at home with your parents?

LS: Some. But my dad was good with English, too.

MA: And I imagine your mother, since she was from Hawaii...

LS: Not too much. It's surprising, because my dad went as a schoolboy, he went to school, so he spoke and wrote in English, beautiful handwriting. And so we spoke a lot of English, and he's the one that taught us to say "Daddy" instead of "Papa." [Laughs]

<End Segment 5> - Copyright ©2008 Densho. All Rights Reserved.