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MN: Let me ask you a little bit about your education. What was the name of your grammar school?

DM: I attended the start of first grade in Trifolium Elementary School, which was an old country, two-room schoolhouse in an area called Trifolium, which was about ten miles west of Brawley. And I completed first through eighth, seventh grade at Trifolium. Of course, one room consisted of one to fourth grade, and the other room was from fifth to eighth grade. And I remember taking, of course, every year we took what they called Standard Achievement Test, and my score was higher than the eighth graders', so the teacher let me skip eighth grade and went directly to high school. I was in seventh grade at that time when I took the test.

MN: What was the ethnic makeup of Trifolium?

DM: Just about everything you can think of. Predominately Latino, and quite a few Caucasians. There was one black family, and about half a dozen Japanese families.

MN: So to get to this two-room grammar school, how did you get there?

DM: We walked. Our farm was about three quarters of a mile from school.

MN: How about Japanese school? How old were you when you started Japanese school?

DM: Gee, I must have been about seven or eight years old when on Saturdays they had the Japanese classes at the Japanese Methodist Church in Brawley. And the bus picked us up and took us back.

MN: And so, was Japanese school half a day or all day Saturday?

DM: All day.

MN: How many students do you think went to the Methodist church Japanese school?

DM: Quite a few. I would say in my class there were over a dozen. Of course, teaching was usually just fundamental A, B, C of the language, which means write and reading in katakana, which was the simplest form.

MN: How strict were they?

DM: Strict. You had to pay attention.

MN: Did you have to learn the Kimigayo and bow to the Tennou picture?

DM: I remember singing the song, but since it was not a Buddhist church, it was mainly Christianity.

MN: Now, you're there all day. What did you bring for obento?

DM: My mother would fix lunch, which consisted of sandwich, mostly likely peanut butter and jam.

MN: Is that what you brought to your regular school lunch?

DM: Yes.

<End Segment 4> - Copyright © 2012 Densho. All Rights Reserved.