<Begin Segment 10>

BY: So you went to Immaculate and you graduated, and you mentioned that you went to Japan in 1960, around that time. Why did you go to Japan, and how long did you stay, what did you do during that period?

HH: I went to Seattle U before that, before I went to Japan. There was an opportunity to go with a tour group from the Buddhist church. And my dad encouraged me to go, and it was for, I think I said two weeks of touring and six weeks being on our own. And so the reason was that I was encouraged to go and I had the opportunity to go, and I had relatives that I should meet. And so I went there and the tour was great, and I had fun meeting all these relatives, and I even attended a wedding of one of my cousins.

BY: And so did you go to both Nagano and Nagoya?

HH: Yes.

BY: And then, so, what did it feel like, being Japanese American in Japan? Did you feel like, oh, I feel so comfortable here? What was it like for you?

HH: Well, the strangest feeling was when we landed into the Japanese airport. I looked around and saw nothing but Japanese people, and I thought, "Why are there so many Japanese here?" Then it dawned on me, duh, guess where you are? [Laughs] But other than that, I didn't feel any discomfort. I didn't feel like a foreigner.

BY: And your Japanese was fine?

HH: No. [Laughs] But kind of passable, I guess, and I knew main words and had a dictionary, so that helped.

BY: So you said that there was a tour for a couple weeks, and I'm assuming you went and saw the famous sights and all that?

HH: Oh, yes.

BY: And then the touring on your own afterwards, did you do that all by yourself?

HH: No, I was always with relatives. They took me to different places.

BY: And was that the first time you'd seen most of them?

HH: Uh-huh. All of them.

BY: Okay.

TI: So I have a question about the tour. You went with the Buddhist church, and so I'm guessing that the other people who were on the tour were mostly other Japanese Americans?

HH: Yes, right. Well, mostly Issei.

TI: Mostly Issei, not Nisei?

HH: No.

BY: So they were older than you, then?

HH: Uh-huh, except for one other person.

TI: Okay, yeah. For some reason, I thought it might be like a student...

BY: Yeah, that's what I thought, too.

TI: So this was just like a Japan tour by the temple and that was Issei. So when I think about that, what was the mood for these Isseis to return to Japan? When you were traveling with them, what did you observe? Because I'm guessing for most of them, this was their first time back since the war, and they were not only touring, but they were also probably going to visit relatives and things. Did you pick up any observations from that?

HH: Well, they all really enjoyed it, and they looked forward to each day to see which temple we would be visiting each time, and enjoying the food. I guess that's all I can recall. Everybody enjoyed shopping because it was cheap. [Laughs]

TI: Do you remember, were people bringing lots of things from the United States to Japan to give to people?

HH: Oh yeah, you had to do that, but I don't know what they brought. It was, when you visit Japan, you have to have a gift.

BY: I'm imagining you brought stuff for all your relatives.

HH: Yes, but I don't remember what.

BY: [Laughs] Yeah, okay.

<End Segment 10> - Copyright © 2022 Densho. All Rights Reserved.