<Begin Segment 5>

TI: So about how old were you when your father passed away?

MO: Must have been about four or five, five, six.

TI: Okay, so it was, you were quite young. Do you recall anything in terms of the impact on your mother when your father left for Japan and didn't come back? Was that hard for her?

MO: Anyway, he wasn't a healthy person.

TI: So when your father left, he was the principal of the school. And so when he didn't come back, your mother then became the principal?

MO: Uh-huh.

TI: So tell me about that. I mean, why would your mother become principal?

MO: That was, they were, in fact, in Wahiawa, they had, I remember now. They were having lot of... what's the word for it? Trouble in the, the membership, the parent membership, Fukeikai was, some of 'em liked him, some of 'em didn't like him. So they were... gee, I'm not sure what to say, how to say it. Mondai ga attan desu yo ne. [Laughs]

TI: That's okay. We'll look it up.

MO: Yeah, so they went through, my father went through a lot of, between the parents, you know, the PTA, because they didn't like him, or some of 'em liked him. And my mother was in between trying to help. So she went through that, trying to support him and trying to support the parents.

TI: That's interesting. So do you recall what the complaint was from the parents when they, when they thought about your father...

MO: I don't exactly, because I was too young to remember him.

TI: But was it maybe he was too strict or something like that?

MO: I'm not sure why.

TI: But so your mother was kind of the in-between.

MO: Yes.

TI: But then after your father left, she then was assigned or appointed to be the principal?

MO: In fact, the parents asked her to be the principal.

TI: So it sounds like your mother was popular with the parents.

MO: Yes, uh-huh. She was smart, too.

TI: Okay. I've done quite a few interviews, and when you mentioned your mother's background, it's not that common to have an Issei woman as educated as your mother. Was that uncommon, or how would you describe Issei women in this area? Were other women as educated as your mother?

MO: I'm not sure. But she graduated from a women's college in Hiroshima. I guess probably that had something to do. Hiroshima Jogakuin. It's a well-known women's college in Japan.

TI: Okay. So let's move and talk about you a little bit now, in terms of, so tell me what schools you went to growing up.

MO: In Hilo I went to Waiakea Uka elementary school. And then my father would drive me to, oh, one thing I really remember was that he was very good about taking me to Sunday school. That he would drive me in this little Ford car, in those days it was a regular Ford. And then after the church ended, I would be waiting for him to pick me up. He never went to church, but it's one thing he saw to, saw to it that I went to church every Sunday, Sunday school.

TI: Now, were your parents Christian?

MO: My mother was Christian, yes.

TI: And so why, why didn't she attend church with you?

MO: I'm not sure why.

TI: And it was your father who drove you there and back. When he would do that, it was just the two of you, do you recall any, maybe, conversations or anything between the two of you when you went to church?

MO: He just dropped me at the church and then he picked me up after church. [Laughs] I remember playing hopscotch and waiting for him. [Laughs]

TI: That's a good story. Okay, so you went to Sunday school in Hilo, and then what about elementary school? In, say when you came to Oahu, which elementary school did you attend?

MO: Oh, that was Wahiawa elementary school. In fact, that's the time that one of the teachers gave me a name. She said, "Chiyo Tanaka is too, it's hard for a teacher to remember your name, so I'm going to give you an English name." And that's when she gave me this name Muriel. So I distinctly remember that that's when I got this English name, Muriel Chiyo Tanaka.

TI: And do you know how she chose that name Muriel?

MO: I don't know why.

TI: And how did you feel about it, when someone gave you another name?

MO: I felt, I felt proud, you know. [Laughs]

TI: Because it was kind of a special name?

MO: That's right. And after that, people said, "I want my name, I want an English name, too." I had a friend that said "I want Rosalee," and she said, "Oh, you be Rosalee." All of a sudden there were so many English names in there. This was the Wahiawa elementary school.

TI: Oh, that's a good story. So they all went from, pretty soon, Japanese to English names? That's a good story.

<End Segment 5> - Copyright ©2009 Densho. All Rights Reserved.