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TI: So can you tell us more about that, and then also about your family life in relation to...

DI: Oh, that was interesting. I was brought up Buddhist, and that's where I felt comfortable, with the Namu Amida Butsu. And Bob was very Americanized. He, in a way, rejected his Japanese heritage when the war started, even before then. He was forced to take kendo, he rebelled, and he just quit. He just did... I think he said he did omen over his teacher's head, and he was let go from class. So he didn't have to go back anymore. But he rejected learning Japanese at Japanese school, he said he's an American, born in America, why should he learn Japanese stuff? He could never understand that. And of course, in the army, I think they give out the New Testament to all the soldiers. Anyway, he could understand that, whereas the Japanese with the language, it was all over his head, and therefore he went towards the Christianity in that sense. And then his field man, Bill... oh, I forgot his last name. He was with the Wesley church.

TI: That was his buddy in the army? His field man when he was in the army?

DI: When he was in the army he got introduced to Christianity, and he more or less stayed with it. And he felt uncomfortable in the Buddhist church, so he wouldn't go with me. And so I just stayed out of the Buddhist church just to keep him company on Sundays, and then he decided, he got talked by his field man that, oh, he'll take the girls to church if Bob's gonna be too busy on Sundays. Bob said, no, no, he'll take the girls to church. And so he started taking the girls to Sunday school at Wesley, and I stayed home with the little ones. But the older ones got to go, although they didn't understand why they had to go to a Japanese church. They always complained, "Why can't we go to a neighborhood Christian church," where they have friends. That was the only thing they were unhappy about.

TI: And Wesley is the Wesley United Methodist Church in Japantown here.

DI: Japantown, Wesley United. And so the children all went and I said, "Okay, you go during the time you're at home. And once you leave home, you're on your own, you can choose whatever church you want. So until then, you go to Wesley and you learn about Christianity, and I'll go through church with you on Sundays to see how I feel about it." But I felt very uncomfortable, so I decided to go back to the Buddhist church on Sundays. So while the children went to Wesley, I went to the Buddhist church, and Bob went to Wesley church. And that's the way it went. After they all graduated and went to college and nobody was at church, Bob still went to Wesley church. I'd drop him off, and then I'd go over to the Buddhist church. And that worked out fine. And for Obon festivals I'd bring the girls over to give them some inkling of what Japanese matsuri would be like by having them join in the Obon festival dancing.

TI: So you wanted them to learn more about Japanese culture?

DI: Well, I've always been interested in Japanese culture. I told Bob, "No matter what you say about being American, you look Japanese. You might as well know something about your background." No matter what I say about being an American, I'm an American citizen, yes, but I'm of Japanese background, I should know something about it. It's nothing to be ashamed of; I'm what I am. And he accepted that after a while. It took a long time for him to accept the fact that, "Did I marry a Japanese bride?" [Laughs] Anyway, he learned to accept it. It took a while.

<End Segment 12> - Copyright &copy; 2012 Densho. All Rights Reserved.