<Begin Segment 6>

AI: Well, what other kinds of things did your parents emphasize as you were growing up? Anything, particular things that were important to them or values or lessons that they talked about?

LK: They made all of us take some kind of musical instruments and...

AI: What was your instrument?

LK: Oh, I, first I played piano and I took that for a year and then she decided that my older sister played piano, so then she had me take violin lessons. I hated it, but it, I learned it and then that was enough for me to be in the high school orchestra, so I enjoyed that part. I was glad that I had a little bit of training. But I didn't bring it to camp. I left it behind, just because it wasn't that important for me.

AI: What other kinds of things do you remember your parents emphasizing to you?

LK: Education. Very, they wanted us to take in everything we could. And like I said, you know, she made me go to summer school, before I was a freshman into Broadway High School. You know, usually don't do that. But my brother was going to go to summer school, so she made me sign up for summer school. So I had to go through summer school every, every summer.

AI: Every summer?

LK: Uh-huh. So, that's why I doubled up on my high school classes and was able to graduate by 1942.

AI: So you graduated a little bit early?

LK: Yes.

AI: And you actually went through high school pretty quickly then.

LK: Yes, three years.

AI: And did you, you mentioned that was at Broadway.

LK: Broadway High School.

AI: What was, what was that like in high school?

LK: Oh, that was really different for me. All of a sudden I met a lot of other Japanese Americans. Because our school didn't have that many. But I used to walk to school with another Japanese girl and it was... my older sister and brother were going there, so my sister helped me get into the mainstream and she was pretty active in girls club and things, so I kind of followed and we were in the Nichibei Choir. It was a hundred voice choir of Japanese Americans.

AI: Was that a, an all-city choir?

LK: No, just Broadway High School.

AI: Oh. So there were that many...

LK: There were.

AI: ...students to make up a choir of that sort?

LK: Uh-huh. In fact, I think when we graduated, maybe 50 percent of the student body left. I don't know if that's an accurate...

AI: But that was your impression, a lot.

LK: It was a lot, a lot yes. Because my Caucasian friends told me that it was all of a sudden the school was empty after we left.

AI: Right.

<End Segment 6> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.