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LH: And on a personal note, do you feel like you've come to terms with your own sense of identity, being Japanese American?

FK: I think I have with that aspect of it. I think, I think there are still things I worry about for myself and so forth. And then sometimes I, I feel like I'm not as... I don't feel like I'm at the, at the top of Maslow's Triangle sometimes, or sometimes I feel like I'm still down in the survival mode. But that probably has a lot to do with my background and my upbringing as much as, as much as the things I think about. It's hard to shake those things off. And you could rationalize with yourself and say all those things, but there's still in the back of your mind you're wondering if either you're good enough or how other people look at you and so forth.

I remember once, I remember once being at church camp, when the leader of the camp said to me, "Maggie Brown has this, this Japanese guy that she really likes. And she wonders what it would be, if it would be okay as far as his ethnic background and stuff to like this Japanese guy." And I'm thinking, Gee, Maggie is really a nice, nice person, you know, I really like her. It's the second year in camp and stuff. And I said, "I didn't even know she had a Japanese boyfriend." So I hear myself saying, "Well you know, if they really like each other and really love each other, it shouldn't make any difference." And that's all I tell them. And then I'm going, and I go back to the dorms after (camp's) over and I'm thinking to myself, God I wonder who Maggie really liked. I thought, "God, I wonder if it was me?" Because we'd been two years in camp and stuff, and I thought, "Well you know, when she comes back to camp next year I'll have to ask her." [Laughs] And she didn't come back to camp next year, so I never knew. But that's just the way you think. You think, "It couldn't, it's not me." So, I don't have the slightest idea, but that's probably a good example of how that kind of affects you, without realizing that it is. That you, you, sometimes is, you don't even realize it's you, that people are talking about because you don't really think you're that good, or whatever, whatever it is. I don't know if it's got to do with culture or the way you were brought up of the things that happen to you when you were growing up so, it could be all those things. And that could be anybody of any color. But I think it's specifically the things we had to go though as Americans of Japanese descent to make that happen to you.

LH: Well I want to thank you today...

FK: Oh, thank you.

LH: For allowing us to interview you. Is there anything else that you'd like to add that we haven't covered?

FK: Oh, probably, but... [Laughs] but I'll find another time.

LH: Okay Frank, well thanks so much, we appreciate it.

<End Segment 43> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.