<Begin Segment 5>

MN: Now, in the United States, were you already attending grammar school?

TH: I don't really remember.

MN: So you started school in Japan, and so what grade did you start?

TH: The first grade.

MN: Did you have to have a tutor to catch up on your Japanese language?

TH: No, not really. I didn't have much problem. Besides, I wasn't too talkative, so I kept silent. No, I had no problem.

MN: So how did you do in school?

TH: I was doing pretty good. When I went, went to the first grade, I was the tallest one in the class, and I was doing pretty good.

MN: Were there other Niseis living in the same mura?

TH: Yeah, there was one Nisei boy who entered, I think, third or fourth grade. And he had a noticeable accent when he's speaking in Japanese, I noticed.

MN: But you two were not friends.

TH: No.

MN: Did you guys have to do the chourei?

TH: Oh, yeah.

MN: From what grade did you start?

TH: Gee, I don't remember. Probably first grade, it's a matter of usual thing to do.

MN: So basically, since you started from the first grade, you didn't think this was odd, or this was not something that you would think would be strange if you had gone to school in America?

TH: No, just a normal thing.

MN: Now, was this every day when you went to school?

TH: Uh-huh.

MN: And then after you did the chourei, what did you do?

TH: Well, I guess go back to the classroom.

MN: And then did you have to also memorize the kyouiku chokugo?

TH: Well, as far as memorizing that, I don't know. But yeah, we had to go through that, reading it.

MN: From about what grade did you have to do souji touban, clean the classrooms?

TH: Gee, I don't remember. But pretty early, I think. Everybody was participating, doing something.

MN: So when did the students clean the classroom? Was it before class, during class, or after class?

TH: I think it was after class.

MN: Now, did the boys do one thing and the girls do another thing?

TH: That, I can't say.

MN: Do you remember bringing your own zoukin?

TH: No. I don't remember that.

MN: Can you share with us what it was like going to school during the winter?

TH: Because it was very cold, as far as I remember, we used to wear geta, and snow used to get stuck in between the tooth of the geta.

MN: Were you allowed to wear socks and gloves?

TH: Gee, I don't know. I think those things were a luxury.

MN: Do you think part of this was because the Japanese government was trying to train the students to be good soldiers?

TH: Well, as far as trying to train good soldiers, but it's just met all the government policy.

MN: What were your summers like?

TH: Oh, summer, of course, it was very hot. In Japan during the summer there are a lot of mosquitoes, so we had to sleep in the kaya or the mosquito net. So very particular smells, we had musty smell.

MN: Did you have to go to summer school, or were you able to play around?

TH: We just played around.

MN: What did you, what did the kids do to play around?

TH: They played like heitai gokko type of thing, or play with wooden sword type thing, yeah.

MN: Who were the bad guys when you played heitai gokko?

TH: No, there were no bad guys.

MN: So it wasn't like the bad people were the Chinese or the Koreans or that mentality?

TH: No, nothing like that.

MN: Now, you had to move when you were in high school. Why did you have to move out of your grandparents' and uncle's place?

TH: When?

MN: Or why? Why did they move you?

TH: Well, because the high school was a little too far from where I was living, so my grandfather and uncle thought it was best that I move to another relative's, whose house is nearer to the high school.

MN: And you mentioned your grades started to drop. Why did your grades start to drop?

TH: Well, I think it's, in a way, it was kind of stressful to be living in a new household, new relative. And also probably it's around the age there's change going on within yourself.

<End Segment 5> - Copyright © 2010 Densho. All Rights Reserved.