Densho Digital Repository - Susumu Nakanishi Interview (Densho ID: ddr-densho-1000-496-5)

<Begin Segment 5>

BY: So when did you start school? How old were you when you started school?

SN: After grade school I went to middle school.

BY: But how old were you when you first went to school?

SN: Eight years old.

BY: So school starts when you're eight years old?

SN: Yes, eight years old, everybody goes to grade school.

BY: Okay, for how many years?

SN: Six years of grade school. And then five years of middle school, and then college.

BY: Okay. And did everyone go to grade school?

SN: No. Only so-called middle class farmer could afford to send their children to middle school.

BY: What about grade school, though? Did everyone go to...

SN: Grade school everybody goes. No tuition, nothing.

BY: Okay. So tuition starts at middle school.

SN: Middle school you have to pay tuition, and some of the parents cannot afford to pay.

BY: So did all of your brothers and sisters go to middle school?

SN: Yes, fortunately. [Laughs]

BY: Okay. And how many went to college?

SN: I think myself and my sisters, so only three went to college.

BY: Okay. And for that, there was tuition?

SN: Yes.

BY: So did your parents pay the tuition?

SN: Yes.

BY: In your case, did you have other help besides tuition?

SN: Well, I had a scholarship, so I could afford to go to the graduate school. But most of the parents in Japan that time, even paying tuition for middle school, it's very difficult. So we had, I had seven kids at my age went to grade school. Only three went to middle school, and others just worked on the farm.

BY: So it was unusual for someone to go to college and then graduate school the way you did?

SN: Yes.

BY: So you must have been a very good student. Tell me about school. What was school like for you?

SN: Well, fortunately, I did very well, and I got a scholarship. But at the college, after the war, most of the high school students drafted to do farm and worked the farm, and they didn't study very much. So after the war I went to, back to the college, I had a full high school education. So professor's question, I was the only one -- [laughs] -- could answer.