<Begin Segment 3>

[Ed. note: This transcript has been edited by the narrator]

TL: From San Francisco, what age were you when your mother brought you to Japan to be educated again? How old...?

MK: How old was I? I was in my fifth grade.

TL: Fifth grade?

MK: Yeah.

TL: Do you remember what year?

MK: What?

TL: What year?

MK: Lets see, fifth grade? What's that, ten?

Linda Keenan: Ten? Was it 1930...?

MK: Oh, the year. 1934, I guess it was -- yeah, (the) depression period. (...)

TL: Was the Depression a factor in your being sent to Japan?

MK: Well, it wasn't because of the Depression. My mother wanted me to be exposed to Japanese education, culture, and language.

TL: Where did she bring you? Where?

MK: A place called Hiratsuka, near Yokohama -- which was still a small village.

TL: And did she bring you to live with her family or...?

MK: (...) Her family. And I enjoyed every day simply because I didn't have to study. [Laughs]

TL: Didn't you go to school in Japan?

MK: Yeah, I went to school.

TL: Didn't you have to study there?

MK: Yeah. I studied there, but I didn't -- I didn't like the way the Japanese were teaching -- regimentation, constant examination. I resisted that. But in due time, because I like to read, I picked up enough (Japanese). (...) So much so that in due time, I was able to pass the exam, the Tokyo University's graduate exam. My educational process is quite different from the Japanese one.

TL: How many -- how many years did you stay in Japan until your mother came to get you?

MK: Four years.

TL: Four?

MK: Four years. (...)

<End Segment 3> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.