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TI: Let's talk about other childhood memories. So growing up in San Francisco...

SY: Well, one of the things I remember was -- this I don't remember, my mother was invited to a card party, and included me. Hana is the name of the game. And that's where my stepfather came into the picture, Joe Okada. Quite an artistic gentleman, he was gifted in carpentry, electrical plumbing, you name it, bonsai was his expertise, he's a very kind man. The only problem he had, I thought, was he, when he got drunk, he couldn't handle the alcohol. The other thing was the fact that he was an illegal alien, he jumped the ship, he was shoveling coal on the ship, and then when he saw San Francisco, he was determined to stay in the United States, start a new life. And so he became a houseboy, but he never had any problem of finding jobs, and the reason for that is because he was a hardworking person, he was well-liked by the Caucasian, so people, he had a lot of references. And, again, he did everything exceptionally well, gardening, housework, extremely fast, but really good.

TI: And how was he as a stepfather to you?

SY: Well, like I said, the only time that I had regrets was when he became drunk. Other than that, he was very intelligent, he's a storyteller, very dramatic. The one thing that I did not like as a child, well, going to Japanese school. I resented it, I hated it, and, because all the other kids were out of school, and I lived out on the outskirt of Japantown, a bus came and picked me up, and by the time I came home it was dark, and we had a cleaner. And I felt that I was missing out on a lot of activities because most of my friends, the school I went to, I was the only Japanese American. And so I felt very lonely about that. But on Saturdays it was matinee time, looking at the newsreel, so we knew there was trouble in Germany, or Europe, Hitler was conquering Europe. We loved the cartoons, we loved the football, you know, the sports newsreel, and then the movies, (especially the Cowboy & Indians movies).

TI: And these were, you went to the matinees with your Caucasian friends?

SY: Definitely.

TI: So when you went in Japanese school, how was that for you? I mean, did you feel like you were different than the other Japanese at the Japanese school?

SY: Oh, yes. I like my friends. Akira Yoshimura, Togo Okumura, Togo was killed in the Korean War, also Ben Kyodo, manju place, but I enjoy the recess. I look at that yard now, and, gee, how small it was, but at that time, when I was young, I thought what a big, massive yard. But the teachers, I recall, were real mean. I went up to the fourth grade, I don't know how, because there was so much memorization, and my stepfather was gifted in Japanese language and writing and so forth, and he really promoted that, I don't know why, but I didn't like it. But when the war started, I didn't have to go to Japanese school, so that was one thing I said, hey, alright, this is great.

TI: That's, that's good.

<End Segment 4> - Copyright © 2010 Densho. All Rights Reserved.