<Begin Segment 6>

MN: I want to ask you a little bit about your musical talents. When did you start playing the piano and is this something that you asked your parents, that you wanted to play piano?

KI: I don't remember. I don't remember. All I remember is that... and I don't remember, I think I started maybe when I was in about fourth grade or so, about fourth grade. There was a piano teacher that taught piano across the street from the school in a basement of a church, and I think she probably came to the school and asked for students. 'Cause that's when I would go, after school just hop across the street instead of going home, go to lessons and then walk home so that's when I started.

MN: Now was this teacher a hakujin teacher?

KI: Oh, yes.

MN: Did she have a lot of Japanese American students?

KI: I don't know. I never saw anybody coming and going.

MN: So after school you'd just go over there like once a week?

KI: Probably once a week or twice a month or something like that, yeah.

MN: Now after you started taking lessons did you get a piano at home?

KI: No, we had a piano and amazingly, a lot of Japanese families had pianos. And I think that was one of the luxuries that the parents wanted to have. But in those days it seemed like everybody was taking piano lessons, at least to me it felt like it. And if there wasn't... if they didn't take lessons at least they had a piano in the house.

MN: What did your piano look like? Was it an upright?

KI: It was an upright, it was a big one of course, yeah and in the living room as you walked in I could see it. Yeah, but it was a big one.

MN: Were you the only one who took piano lessons?

KI: I think my sister took a little bit, just a little bit because I still have some of our music books from before the war and it has her name on it. And most of the pieces that have her name on it are the popular music that like Chickory Chick... well, I don't know the names but it has her name on it, on the top so I know that she was... she knew something.

MN: Did you have any favorite pieces that you played before the war? I know you were still very young.

KI: I don't think so. I don't think so. I was just probably beginning to like popular music, though because I have a lot of the old popular music songs that were popular at that time. But my piano lessons I was able to use at school, 'cause they asked me to play for the school assemblies for people... I don't know how other schools did it but when it was assembly time the pianist would play and all the classes would march into the auditorium and take their seats, well, that was my job. And then I was part of the school orchestra, I played the piano in the school orchestra. So I can't imagine what kind of music we played, I guess... I know we had a lot of fun and a lot of kids in my class were musical too so we had a little ensemble so to speak in our own classroom.

MN: And this was in Washington Grammar School?

KI: Yeah.

MN: It sounds like you were pretty good to be asked?

KI: I know I can't... I think, my gosh, was I that good? I guess I have to feel proud of myself that I was.

MN: And I was thinking about, 'cause you told me you piano teacher didn't teach at that church anymore.

KI: Yeah, I don't know at what point she stopped or if she still taught there... it must have been after... it must have been just that one year after or not even that long. Because when I went to grammar school, sixth grade, I was going to the church, right? Gosh, because at some point on Saturday morning I was walking to her house to do it. And I can't remember if I was doing both after school and on Saturdays or if I just went on Saturdays.

MN: But I get the impression that she wanted you to continue with your lessons.

KI: Uh-huh.

MN: Now if the war hadn't disrupted your life, do you think you would've pursued piano more seriously?

KI: I don't think so. I don't think so. I don't know. I have no idea. I don't think I was... I just don't think I would have thought of going on to music.

MN: Did your parents play any musical instruments?

KI: No.

MN: But it sounds to me your mother loved music. You were telling me she had a lot of records. What sort of records did she have?

KI: Well, the songs that were popular in those days. Of course one of the ones I remember was the "Shina no Yoru" and then was the one, oh gosh, it's still very popular. At least the Niseis know the tune, something about a castle, "Moonlight on the Castle" or something like that.

MN: Is this an American song?

KI: No.

MN: Japanese song.

KI: It's a Japanese song. And then she had records that... children's songs, so that's why I used to hear these Japanese children's songs. And she used to teach it to us but I remember actually her playing the piano. She would play the melody with one hand and of course she never had music lessons. She would play the melody with her right hand and then just play some notes down... a chord or just an octave down below just to accompany it and she used to sing while doing that.

MN: So you grew up with a lot of these Japanese songs?

KI: Oh, yeah, right, because we also went to these Japanese, I don't know if it was once a month or what, but down at the, there was a place called Finnish Hall on University Avenue down by San Pablo where they showed Japanese movies, they had talent shows and things like that. See, that's where the cultural things came in and when it was emperor's birthday there was celebrated the emperor's birthday with programs and stuff like that. So yeah, so I think I still had... and then of course my parent's friends were, we had a mixture of Japanese and I mean Christian and Buddhist friends. I mean, we never even thought of being separated that way, so we used to go to these Buddhist things and they would come. I remember us going to the Buddhist things but I don't remember them coming to many of the Christian things. But then when you come to a cultural thing it's mixed up anyway.

MN: Now you were mentioning how you said there were some activities at this Finnish Hall and some talent shows. Did your parents participate in any of them?

KI: I don't remember them participating but I'm sure that's where the first place I saw my Japanese samurai movies. [Laughs]

<End Segment 6> - Copyright © 2011 Densho. All Rights Reserved.