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BN: Did you have to go to Japanese school?

EO: When I was young?

BN: Yeah.

EO: Yes. My dad didn't think it was necessary, but my mother, she insisted. So (the Japanese school bus would) pick us up every Saturday, and we'd spend the whole day at Japanese school.

BN: Which school?

EO: What school?

BN: Yeah, which Japanese school?

EO: Well, the Japanese community opened their own school. My dad was on the board of directors, he was treasurer. And they started, I don't know where they got the money, but they had enough money to have a big building and a school. There was a tennis court on the property and they used that for basketball games, I think. So it was a pretty large space.

BN: How many years did you go?

EO: Let's see. Possibly 'til the war started.

BN: So were you pretty good at Japanese?

EO: Not really. I would frustrate my teachers because I spoke English at home because my dad spoke English. At school they have what they call hanashikai, that's a talk program, we all had to give speeches in Japanese. My Japanese had an English accent, which frustrated the heck out of him. [Laughs]

BN: So at home, your mother also spoke English, too?

EO: A little English, but she spoke mostly Japanese to me.

BN: But mainly your dad was...

EO: My dad is always English.

BN: ...encouraging English. That was fairly unusual for Issei at that time?

EO: I think it was unusual. That's why he saw himself as a liaison between the Japanese community and people at City Hall.

BN: Was he active in other kinds of community activities, Japanese associations?

EO: Yeah, the Japanese Association, and then I think he was one of the founders of the Christian church.

BN: This is a Japanese Christian church?

EO: The Japanese church on Kensington Avenue. But he and the minister didn't get along, the one we had, so he stayed away. He had friends, but his friends were... it's interesting, most of his friends were ministers from other churches.

<End Segment 3> - Copyright © 2018 Densho. All Rights Reserved.