<Begin Segment 12>

TI: And so that actually, I was thinking, so you were born in Peru, and then you go to Crystal City and then you go to San Francisco. At what point, or did you ever become a U.S. citizen, and when did that happen?

GN: That's after the army.

TI: After the army?

GN: Yeah.

TI: So back then, I mean, I can't remember in terms of rules, but you didn't have to be a citizen to join the army, you could just be a legal resident?

GN: They drafted me, I got drafted into the army.

TI: Even though you weren't a citizen?

GN: I was a...

TI: Legal resident?

GN: I was a green card. So anyway, talking back to the Japan experiences, after that, next day, I was invited to go to City Hall of Takatsuki. Oh, what's going on? I go there, there's people, cameras, and all big deal again. And the mayor comes out and all these things, and then they give me a gift, Takatsuki makes this special ceramic thing that they give me as a gift, and they all take pictures. It was a big deal. Oh, boy, I was the luckiest guy, you know, to experience all that. I was the only guy, I was in the newspaper, too, Japan, so everybody in Japan saw my picture.

YN: So when they welcomed you at Takatsuki, do they also mentioned about your background as a Peruvian?

GN: No, just Boy Scouts.

YN: So you were kind of hiding that you were, or they just...

GN: No, I guess we didn't need to talk about it, just Boy Scouts from U.S.A., San Francisco.

TI: So no reporter kind of asked, "So where did your parents come from, which prefecture?"

GN: No, just about the U.S.A. Boy Scouts, and so we did all that. And I had, I don't like seafood too much, so every time we'd go to a place, we went to... what's the place, what do you call that place where you go to take a hot bath?

YN: Onsen?

GN: Onsen, yeah, we went to an onsen. Where was it? Kamakura or Atami or somewhere.

TI: Yeah, with a big...

YN: Atami is more, with hot springs...

GN: Atami? Yeah, we went there and took an onsen, then we all had to wear this Japanese...

YN: Yukata?

GN: Yukata and geta, and we were walking along, that was a nice experience.

TI: Well, how long were you guys in Japan, this group?

GN: Two to three weeks, something like that.

TI: Wow, what an experience. A large group, the organization...

GN: It was a big deal, yeah. So we did all that, we went out rowing on a boat, things like that. Then I got hurt there, you know. You know when you got the oar and you got two metal things, the thing slipped and went right into my, and I had a big cut in here. And so we had to find a doctor in this, in Atami, right? So walking down, so we found a doctor and he sewed me up there. Oh, boy, was that painful. It was a little house, like, not a real big hospital, a little house.

TI: Just got some thread? [Laughs]

GN: Yeah, I forget where the scar was, but anyway, I had that kind of experience.

YN: What kind of culture shock did you feel?

GN: Counter shock?

YN: Culture shock.

GN: Oh, culture shock? Not really, no. Like I said, I didn't like seafood, so every time we'd go to these Japanese, when we eat, I told the tour guide that I don't eat seafood, so they had to have special food for me. So he remembered, every time we'd go eat, he always looks at me, "You sit here." [Laughs] And I'd get served meat, everybody else was eating fish and shrimp, whatever, I'd get meat, I remember that was okay.

TI: That's so funny because you grew up, I mean, you were born kind of in a seaport, you live in San Francisco, another seaport, and you don't like seafood.

GN: My father was like that.

TI: Oh, your father was like that?

GN: I take after him, I guess, and he didn't like too much seafood either, and he was from Japan, right? Born and raised in Japan, but he didn't like seafood that much, I took after him. So soon after all this, then we went to Osaka, which was our sister city. Then they had a big deal there, too, wow, big field and people all around there, and a big show, taiko and everything, fire burning and everything, and that's where we came out, drum and bugle corps, marched in.

TI: That must have been interesting, drum and bugle corps, because that's probably not...

GN: Played for them, yeah. We did that for them, right, they were showing us all their things, and we had nothing. So the drum and bugle corps was great.

<End Segment 12> - Copyright © 2019 Densho. All Rights Reserved.