<Begin Segment 11>

TI: Before we go to Oregon State, I forgot to ask about the church. So you talked about going to church, were there Christian churches at Dee also that the Japanese went to?

MM: (No, a community Christian church held in Dee School auditorium). Hood River Japanese Methodist Church. And they had a building, too.

TI: They had their own building?

MM: That's how I met Henry Itoi and Bill Yorozu, there were two, only two people I knew in Seattle. They used to come to Young People's Christian Conference, it used to be called, just community, the young people would meet.

TI: So the Methodist church was very active, and they would have things that...

MM: Yes. Quite a few Japanese were there.

TI: Now, when you mentioned that the Buddhist, Nichiren Buddhists met at the school? Why did they meet there and not the Japanese community center that was by your house?

MM: By my house? TI: Yeah.

MM: Did they? No, they didn't meet in Dee. (The) Methodists met in Hood River, city Hood River. We didn't have any... and they only went, they weren't active, the Buddhists in Dee. They went to Portland when there were special occasions. They had to travel to Portland, I remember my dad would, too. Because there wasn't any organization in a place like Dee (on) Hood River. But there was (an active Methodist group that met in Hood River).

TI: But then for every Sunday, I thought you said they had services at the elementary school?

MM: Oh, that was at the (Dee) elementary school (church service). (A community church service on Sunday school. At that time, no church in Dee).

TI: I see. So if there was, like, Obon or something like that, would they do...

MM: Portland.

TI: Portland. Would they do Obon sort of, any kind of services in Dee, like Obon dances or anything like that?

MM: No, they didn't. No, it wasn't organized.

TI: Yeah, I forgot to ask about that.

MM: But I know the Methodist was, because they had a group.

TI: So let's now go to Oregon State. And so what was that like for you in Oregon State? This was kind of a, pretty far away for you.

MM: I guess I was brave. I didn't feel like leaving home was a difficult thing. I guess maybe I learned from my older sister.

TI: Because she was there at the time?

MM: She was there, yes, two years ahead of me.

TI: So when you went to Oregon State, where did you live?

MM: Dormitory, in dormitory. I don't think there were any Japanese in sororities or fraternities at that time. I don't know of anybody that even tried to apply to any. But they were friendly.

TI: And how did you like Oregon State?

MM: Oh, I liked it real well. I studied hard.

TI: [Laughs] And what were some of the things that you loved about Oregon State? Besides studying, what were some other things that you did?

MM: Oh, we had councils, meetings, and different groups in our dormitory, about three hundred, so we had groups, and I joined. I joined them (...), went to the Oregon coast before school started the next year to discuss what we're going to do. I joined, and my sister joined in journalism and different things, too, so we did okay.

TI: Now, did you do things like go to football games?

MM: Yes, football games and everything, yes. Helped with the prom, the dances. We helped.

TI: Now, on the football team, I think I read this someplace, that there were either one or several Japanese who played on the football team?

MM: Yes, and it was sad because Jack Yoshihara, the football player, he didn't get to go to the Rose Bowl because the war came on. He couldn't go that year. But he got a ring, I saw him with the ring. He passed away recently, yes. And then the baseball, there was, Ko Yada used to play baseball on the baseball team. Those are two athletes in the school I think I remember. They took part quite a bit.

TI: And at the college level, how about your sister and you? Did you start dating when you were in college?

MM: Yes, we went to dances, went to a lot of dances.

TI: And were there quite a few Japanese at Oregon State?

MM: Yes. Oh... no. I think about, now there's more, but more like, maybe twenty. Not that many. About five girls, and then all the others were boys. So we got to go to dances a lot. [Laughs]

TI: So it was a good ratio if you were a woman, you had fifteen guys and five girls.

MM: But there was International Club and different things that they went to. So they were very friendly. It was a small school, only four thousand at that time, much bigger now.

TI: Now during this time was there any, like, interracial dating? Did, like, any the Japanese date non-Japanese, whites or other races?

MM: No. We had a Japanese lady from Japan there, I remember one lady. But increased, there were a lot of them later on. We were only five or six women, and all the other men, but now there are many.

<End Segment 11> - Copyright © 2014 Densho. All Rights Reserved.