<Begin Segment 6>

MN: Now, let's see. And then you folks moved back and then in 1928, your family became homeowners.

TI: Yes.

MN: Can you share with us whose name the property was in and why it was sold?

TI: Because my Issei parents could not own property or a home, so I am the owner of our home, and they got me a... what do you call it? The person that you to have an adult...

MN: Like a protector?

TI: Yes, something like that. What do you call that person? A guardian, yeah. They appointed a guardian, who was Seiichi Nobe, and he was a U.S. citizen and the builder of our house. So he was appointed my guardian, and then my father was able to procure the land and had the house built.

MN: Now, do you remember the address to this house?

TI: Uh-huh, 3060 St. George Street in Los Angeles.

MN: Do you know why he chose this property?

TI: Well, it was close to our other house.

MN: And how long did it take to have this house built?

TI: Well, I was only four years old, so I don't remember, but I remember going there during the time it was being built and walking around in the half-built house. And I remember my father showing me my room, yes.

MN: How did that make you feel? Were you excited?

TI: Well, at four years old I don't think I realized what it was about, really. [Laughs]

MN: Which elementary school did you attend?

TI: I attended Ivanhoe elementary school.

MN: What was the ethnic makeup of Ivanhoe?

TI: Ivanhoe was predominately Caucasian, but there were a few Japanese and Mexican and... but predominately Caucasian.

MN: So were most of your friends non-Japanese?

TI: Yes. And I had some Japanese friends, too.

MN: Did you attend Japanese school at this time?

TI: No, I did not.

MN: Did your mother enroll you in anything like ikebana or chadou classes?

TI: No. But my mother got me a tutor when I was about third grade. And she came to the house and tutored me in Japanese.

MN: Was this every day?

TI: No, once a week.

MN: And were you the only student?

TI: No, Emiko Hikuchi that lived in my neighborhood, she came and learned Japanese with me.

MN: And then what happened that this teacher no longer came to your place?

[Interruption]

TI: She always came to the school to pick us up, and so she had a Chevrolet car, and we would ride home with her. And she... I don't know what happened, but she drove the car into a telephone pole. And so I cut my lip and had to have a stitch put in it, and my friend, she got a bunch of bruises but nothing else. And the teacher hit her nose on the steering wheel, and she had a very big bump on her forehead. And, but my father said, he asked her why she ran the car into the telephone pole and she didn't have an answer, so my father said, "Well, I guess these lessons are going to stop." So that was the end of my Japanese school experience.

<End Segment 6> - Copyright © 2010 Densho. All Rights Reserved.