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BY: Can you tell us about your children? Names, ages, what they're working at, how they've influenced you?

TI: Sure. So our oldest child is Tani. She's now thirty-three, she's a filmmaker.

BY: An accomplished one.

TI: Yeah, accomplished filmmaker. And she, in many ways, I think of the generations. Tani and I talk about this, when I was in my early thirties and thinking about my parents who were about my age, early sixties. And here I was in this brand new field of technology, which was just totally a new world to my parents. In many ways, when I see Tani and what she does, it feels the same way. In particular, when it comes to social equity issues, she did work with Black Lives Matter and others, with the Women's March. And she's very involved and aware, and her awareness has really been an education for me to learn so much.

BY: She was in Charlottesville, right?

TI: No, she had a cameraperson there, so she wasn't there personally. So she's been on the front lines of a lot of these movements and has a strong awareness of that. Which she shared with me, which I learn a lot, which I think has an impact on the work at Densho. Because when I think of other Japanese American organizations, I think Densho tends to, on a spectrum, be more open. And there's more movement in those areas, and a lot has to do with the awareness we have, not only with staff, but I think my awareness, and a lot of it comes from Tani.

Our other child, Casey, who is thirty-one, so he is now a teacher, teaching history in the high school and middle school level. And he, his undergraduate was in history. He's done quite a few oral histories also in the Japanese American community, and he went to school in San Francisco and worked for seven years down there in the Japanese American community with a nonprofit down there. And recently, or the last couple years, moved back to Seattle and has been teaching. So he is very much, we have these -- as I do with you -- discussions about history and what it means, and what we can learn from our community's experience and how it relates to today. And he gets the opportunity to share that with his students, which I think is so cool.

BY: Is he teaching in public schools?

TI: No, he's teaching with an independent school, and part of that was he doesn't actually have his teacher's certification. He wanted to go into teaching and was planning to actually go to graduate school and get certified and then probably teach in public schools. Casey's a really good athlete, and the sport that he gravitated towards is Ultimate Frisbee, and so he was on the U.S. Worlds team, and has now become a really good coach in terms of the sport. And actually, someone from that school he's teaching at now just observed him on the fields with students, or with youth, and his presence and how he was coaching, and just came up and said, "Are you interested in teaching? We're looking for someone." And Casey, who was thinking, "I'm starting to apply to graduate school, I can actually start teaching and see if this is really what I want to do." So that's what he's doing right now, and I think he's coming up to the point where he has to decide whether or not to get his certification and do this, or do something else.

BY: Yeah, to be certificated, as they say, that awkward word, is a challenge, it really is in this state.

<End Segment 19> - Copyright © 2020 Densho. All Rights Reserved.