<Begin Segment 8>

[Ed. note: This transcript has been edited by the narrator]

VY: So after the war, you and your parents, just the three of you, returned to San Francisco.

YY: First, yes. And eventually, one by one, they all started coming back.

VY: Now, when you returned to San Francisco Japantown, were you one of the first families to do that?

YY: We were one of the earlier ones. (My parents) felt that I (should begin) school (on the first day with everyone else). Japan surrendered (...) in August. We had to come back before Labor Day (to begin school) after Labor Day.

VY: So were you nervous about going back?

YY: Yeah, I was a little hesitant. I wasn't sure what to expect.

VY: And you went back before most of your friends did, so did they give you any...

YY: They weren't back yet. And a lot of new students while I was gone, so I didn't know them at all. (They may have been curious), but they weren't difficult at all. They made it easy. They may have been prepared by the teacher, I don't know.

VY: Do you think maybe the teacher talked to them to make you feel comfortable about returning?

YY: Yeah.

VY: Well, I'm curious. So your friends from Japantown, that whole neighborhood, you and your friends all went to the same camp and you still interacted with each other in Topaz, and then you all, or not all of you, but a lot of you, ended up coming back to the same area. But you kind of came first.

YY: I think so, earlier than most. (But many didn't come back to the same area. Therefore, attended different schools.)

VY: So what did your friends tell you about going back? Like were they worried about you or did they tell you to be careful?

YY: Well, some of the close friends in the same block, they tried to prepare me by (saying) if they (taunt you), then I should say something back. [Laughs] That wasn't my personality. I listened to them, but I knew I wouldn't be (confronting them in that way).

VY: So you said when you came back, the students were different. I'm wondering about, was the whole neighborhood a little bit different? Because while you were gone, while you were in camp, did other people move in to the neighborhood?

YY: When I was in camp, what?

VY: When you were in camp, I'm wondering, after you returned to the same neighborhood, if it changed at all? Was it different, were there different people living there?

YY: Oh, you mean in our house?

VY: In your house, just in the neighborhood, in your school.

YY: Some of the old neighbors went back to their house because they owned it. But the people who were renting probably had to look elsewhere. They wouldn't be able to go back to the same house.

VY: So before the war, were most of the students Japanese, most of your classmates? Were they mostly Japanese American before the war?

YY: Yeah, but not everybody owned homes, even though they lived there. But the people who did own the home, most of them came back. Otherwise, they found other places to move to, and they decided to start a new life. [Narr. note: Only four or five Japanese students in my class before the war. Majority were Caucasians. Postwar majority were Blacks and Latin, a few Caucasians, Chinese and 1-2 Japanese in my class. There may have been more returning later, but I had transferred to a junior high school by then.]

VY: And what about your classmates? You had new classmates when you returned?

YY: The new what?

VY: New classmates, kids in school.

YY: Oh, classmates. They weren't Japanese, it was mainly the Blacks came into our neighborhood, so there were Black students and also the Caucasian students. And I think some probably came from Mexico, because there were... or South America maybe. I met a lot of new students from down south. I'm not sure (from) which country.

VY: Did everybody seem to get along pretty well?

YY: Yeah, they did. They were very friendly, maybe at that age they weren't... well, they didn't act prejudiced or anything like that, so I didn't feel threatened (...).

VY: Not what your friends prepared you for?

YY: (No, it wasn't the confrontational scene my friends prepared me for.)

VY: What about, did anything change? Like the center, the learning, the Japanese language school, did the name change while you were gone? Like when you came back, was it different?

YY: You know, I'm not sure, because I didn't see other kind of business except maybe a grocery store that was Italian (owned). All the others must have been owned by the Japanese because they seemed to have come back and started their business again.

VY: Oh, interesting. So a lot of the merchants were able to come back to their business?

YY: Yeah. Especially the grocery stores and the fish market. They were the same people who came back and restarted their business.

VY: And the language school, did that remain the same?

YY: The what?

VY: The language school.

YY: The language...

VY: The Japanese language school.

YY: No, it didn't. That was taken over by the Booker T. Washington community center, and therefore they had Black groups, but also Yori Wada, (who was an advisor to) the Barons, (joined) with the Booker T. Washington (staff). He was very involved (with everyone), and they all liked him a lot. (It was nice to see).  (Her persuaded) our age group to start thinking about politics (and eventual elections), and he had us delivering notices at election time (and encouraged involvement). We all (respected him).

VY: Interesting.

<End Segment 8> - Copyright © 2021 Densho. All Rights Reserved.