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BY: And so why didn't your wife and children come with you?

SN: Well, they visited, there was a chance they could stay half a year if they want. So one time, I invited them to go there, but they didn't like it. [Laughs] So getting the work, job in Japan from Pfizer was my mistake.

BY: Okay. So it sounds like, at that point is when Dr. Huggins wrote his letter, "please let him come back to the United States." Okay, so then you came back. And then after you came back, where did you live and what did you do?

SN: I lived in the, well, first, Connecticut, and then moved to the University Place, state of Washington. And because my daughter lived in Steilacoom.

BY: You also lived in Minneapolis, is that right?

SN: Yes.

BY: So you lived in Chicago, Minneapolis, Connecticut.

SN: Connecticut and then Washington.

BY: Okay. And you mentioned that you always lived in a Caucasian community, and so was that an intentional choice on your part or did it just happen?

SN: Just happened. But I didn't select a non-Japanese community, but all the housing and so forth provided for me. And so without choice, but...

BY: And what was that like for you and for your family, living in an almost-all Caucasian community?

SN: I didn't feel very strange.

BY: You did not? Okay.

SN: No. Because of my job, probably.

BY: And was it hard for you to fit in or for your children to fit in? Was it hard? Did you feel comfortable and welcomed in those places?

SN: Yeah, always welcomed, very nice, yes.

BY: So you never experienced any feelings of isolation or...

SN: No, only the one time at the barber shop.

BY: Oh, okay, yeah. And how about in your workplace?

SN: Oh, it was excellent.

BY: Okay, all right.

<End Segment 16> - Copyright © 2022 Densho. All Rights Reserved.