<Begin Segment 26>

TI: So you, after four months in Topaz, you have this opportunity to go to Springfield College.

FH: Well, the only way to get out was through the student relocation program that the Quakers put together.

TI: And how did you get connected with the program?

FH: Well, sabotage. I mean, you know, we have a, like a street sheet, we have a news, Topaz Times. Henry Tani was the editor of that at one time. Henry Tani... Henry Tani's son became an astronaut. That Tani. He was a Stanford man, he had a sister named Lilly that married Mr. Abiko, only son of Kyutaro Abiko. And so Lilly and I became very good friends. We were co-officers of the Christian Conference in Bay Area, Lilly. She just passed away, too.

TI: Okay. So you went to Springfield College.

FH: Yes.

TI: Tell me about that.

FH: Springfield College is a YMCA training school in a sense. It's open to all others, it's liberal arts school, but the start is "Spirit, Mind and Body." And they don't call it a YMCA, but it is a YMCA training school, it's international, started in 1885 and located in Springfield College, it's in Springfield, Massachusetts, and they have a campus there. Because basketball was founded by Springfield College, did you know that?

TI: Oh, you mean by...

FH: Naismith.

TI: Naismith, yeah.

FH: Dr. Naismith was a worker for a Springfield College professor, and he said, "Football is strenuous and good, but we need something else for, similar for winter, indoors." And they got a peach basket and a ball, and that became basketball. And so they formed, they have a shrine, a big auditorium, they have a Hall of Fame place for basketball players, Naismith's.

TI: Oh, that's interesting. Yeah, I know the... yeah, the, Dr. Naismith...

FH: But anyhow, Springfield College, its main thing is Spirit, Mind and Body, and it's Christian principles. Start out as a Christian school and still remains so, although it's open to all religion, and it's, a lot of people from foreign countries come and get their YMCA training there, yes.

TI: So for you, this must have been pretty comfortable because of your YMCA background.

FH: Oh, yes.

TI: You already had a, you know, your bachelor's degree from Berkeley.

FH: Yes. And then I also, at the time I was going to Springfield, war's on. So very few students, one of my classes was only two students. And so I got to know the professor, Dr. Lindbergh, who lived to be a hundred years old and wrote a book when he was one hundred years old. He was my model. So I've got some more to go, catch up. He just passed away. He wrote a book on Living a Century about his life.

TI: So you have, what, five more years to go? [Laughs]

FH: I have five more years. But that's Paul Lindbergh. And there was a L.K. Hall that I got to know in Springfield. I just think he was one of the... he influenced me so much because of his intelligence and his hunger for knowledge, and his caringness. He was not a handsome man, but a huge, six-foot-two or three, big guy. We call him L.K. Lawrence K. Hall. They got award for him. They got an award called the Kingsley Hall Award, which is the highest prestigious award that any YMCA professional can ever get. The first award, first time they gave this award in 1998, just got this going. And who do you think got that award? Fred Hoshiyama. First awardee. I'm so proud of that, so much, so much. [Laughs]

TI: That's a good connection.

FH: That's Springfield.

TI: Any personal memories of Springfield that... like a story or memory?

FH: Yeah. We're not supposed to cook, you know, but we all had little electric... what do you call those little...

TI: Hotplates?

FH: Hotplates. And one day there was a postmaster that asked for students to work on the Christmas. And after Christmas rush was over, this guy was an Irishman. He says, "You don't know about the Irish famine out here, but we were treated like dirt, just the way you guys are being treated today. Don't tell the other students, but I'm going to release everybody but you and Henry, Japanese American from Hawaii, you could continue working if you want, nighttime, night shift, sorting mail." He let us come back. One night I'm coming home from a, like early morning, two o'clock or something, one o'clock. Dorm was on fire, fire engines there. And someone said it was a hotplate that probably started this. They're not sure, but they threw it all out the window. [Laughs] And my feeling is that my hotplate... I forgot to turn it off when I left. 'Cause we're not supposed to cook in the room, but everybody did. And so I still remember that. I'm not sure, but it could be that I started that fire. I don't want to tell Springfield College, they'll sue me. But that happened.

<End Segment 26> - Copyright © 2010 Densho. All Rights Reserved.