<Begin Segment 7>

MN: Jack, I want to ask you about your schooling now. Where did you go to grammar school?

JK: Our grammar school was right behind the Daiichi Gakuen. It's called Amelia Street School. There was a street named Amelia that's not there anymore. But it was... at that time, when I was in kindergarten, all Caucasian teachers. And what made the school so unique for the Japanese population was because we had a bath to wash up. You figure Japanese people take bath nightly, I think. Having a bath to service you at the school was unbelievable. We had a bath, we had woodwork for the ladies, what we called sloyd, S-L-O-Y-D, sloyd woodwork. We had basket making, home cooking, shoe repair. It was a strange program that I surely had.

MN: Now, but the basket weaving, those are for the older kids, right?

JK: Well, I think, yeah, we started about fourth grade.

MN: Tell me more about this bath. Where'd you take the bath at?

JK: Well, it was in the building, several building with a bath room, and we had a custodian in charge. "All right, you're gonna take a bath." Dressing room. So we had a bath at home, so we didn't... people that had, probably stayed in hotels, probably it was too crowded so they probably took a bath. So it worked out. Well, yardwork, playing in the yard was, a small yard. But imagine all the Japanese spoken only in elementary. I can't imagine that except for the people that had older brothers and sisters. But we were lucky. I had older brother and sisters, so my English was okay.

MN: So Amelia Street School was mostly Japanese American kids?

JK: (In the 1930s, mostly Nisei.) Well, we chased out the Spanish, Indians, because our community became all Japanese. And I don't know where the Mexican population disappeared to. There were mostly Spaniards from the early Spanish families. And Indians, few, the Indians were disappearing quicker than the Spanish.

MN: You're talking about Native Americans?

JK: Yes.

MN: Do you know where they went?

JK: [Shakes head]

MN: So Amelia Street School, from what grade to what grade was Amelia Street School?

JK: (K-8.) We had kindergarten, unlike now. So kindergarten, and so Japanese people had a break, older brother and sister and friends speaking English. So, you know, I had a fourth grade teacher, Miss Mauch, M-A-U-C-H, who took an interest in our welfare, our weekend. "I'll get your permission slip signed, all right? We're going to Eagle Rock." "Eagle Rock, where's that?" Up there in the mountains. So we went to Eagle Rock. Eagle Rock, behind the eagle, there's a cave. We had a cave there to have our lunch, and cave walking, hiking, short hike up. And so we had fun on weekends. And Miss Mauch, thank her. So she took us to Sycamore Grove. Where's that? Where the sycamore trees grow. And oh, she and Ms. Raymond, can't forget.

MN: How often did Miss Mauch take you? Once a month on these trips?

JK: Oh, yeah, depending on the teachers. If they can get permission to.

MN: Like how did you get to Eagle Rock or to Sycamore...

JK: Streetcar.

MN: Oh, streetcar went all the way up to Eagle Rock?

JK: Yes. The Five Car went to Eagle Rock, from north Broadway, took off at Elysian Park, around Eagle Rock, went that way. So I get my directions mixed. But yes, Eagle Rock and south pass. So we went. I remember you had to pay a nickel for the streetcar, and some people said, "Oh, he forgot to put the nickel in." [Laughs] So we'd get the nickel.

MN: Can you share with us about the penny lunch at Amelia Street School?

JK: Oh, yes. We have what we call a penny lunch. People ate at the school, and so upper graders from fourth up, did the kitchen work. So we did, pour the milk for the milk drinkers, serve the dessert, what else have we... cut the, well, they were unsliced bread so we had to cut the bread. So we had to help. And we had a pretty good menu. Soup plus entree. [Laughs] One of my friends from Japan, he came over not too long before school started. He didn't like milk, so he would pay somebody a nickel if they drank the milk. Because it was mandatory that you drink or finish up what you started to eat. So we got away cheaply, five cents.

MN: Who drank the milk for five cents?

JK: One of his friends.

MN: So if you didn't finish your meal, you could not work the lunch line.

JK: Yeah.

MN: How did you get chosen to work the lunch line?

JK: Well, it was mandatory.

MN: So all the students did it?

JK: Yeah, all the students from fifth grade or fourth grade did it.

MN: So you went to Amelia Street School, and then after that you went to Daiichi Gakuen, which was right next door, is that right? And then Koyasan, you went to Koyasan church. Koyasan had a very famous Boy Scout troop.

JK: Yes.

MN: Were you involved with that?

JK: No. It was the next generation. All my younger friends, they took over.

<End Segment 7> - Copyright © 2011 Densho. All Rights Reserved.