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BN: So from Guadalupe, then, where does your family go?

FS: Well, so from Guadalupe we came to Pasadena, to Westridge school, just down the street, which is about as elitist you could find at that time. It was founded with that in mind. And my father... well, Tak Kawagoe came after us in a pickup truck because of the furniture we had, which I forgot to mention, is the furniture my father made in Gila. He made a chest of drawers and he made a small table, so that was all we had. Now I had a phonograph player and then three suitcases. So from the back of a pickup truck, as a youngster, I loved it. First time I got to ride in the back in the open air of a pickup truck with our furnishings. So we ended up at Westridge school where apparently Tak was doing the gardening for a while. And he got my dad a job as a custodian, and that's where I grew up. It's the first home, actually, when you think about it, for the three of us as a family, it's the first real home. We lived there quite a few years.

BN: So for those of us, I'm totally not familiar with the school. So it's kind of an elite girls' school?

FS: Yeah. It was founded by this woman, Ranney, and there was a house on the campus called Ranney House, but it's a very, at that time, I don't know how many students they have. They did have all the... I think from about fourth grade through high school. And Pasadena had, it was located on Orange Grove, which is called "Millionaire's Road," the Wrigley House is still here, and a few others, but not many. Very rich people that came to Pasadena in summertime because of the weather. They mostly were from the Midwest. I'll mention later, but which was close to Westridge school, to give you an idea of that street, she came only in the summertime originally and they built this big mansion right up the hill. And that's kind of the origin of Pasadena, very wealthy, on Orange Grove. And Westridge school is right on Orange Grove, and started by this woman who happens -- I just recently learned -- to have been an architect. And worked for Greene and Greene, another elitist part of Pasadena. But yeah, you name it, they went there. A very good friend of mine later, she graduated, she's the same age as I am, graduated high school there in 1950. And she was the daughter of the importer giant that brought in all the dolls. A lot of girls would know the dolls, I forgot the name of the family, her maiden name. Dakin, D-A-K-I-N, and that was on every stuffed animal you could find, you'd see the word "Dakin." They had a big office on the bay in northern California. But her parents tragically died in a plane crash. But they were very humanitarian type people. So Sue Dakin, who's still a very good friend, she moved to Portland. But she actually ran for president using her own funds. And I forgot whether it was '80s, forgot what campaign, she wrote a book about it, Artist for President, something like that. So she graduated in 1950, which is the year I would have graduated. I learned later that Mrs. Irvine of Irvine Ranch also was a student about that time. So you get an idea of some of the, there were more people of upper wealth there.

BN: So what was it like then? Because you're a teenage boy living on this campus of a girls' school? What was that experience like?

FS: Well for me, and my dad, too, I think my mother takes the burden of everything. But it was everything. I mean, I had a playground all to myself with acres of things to play, tennis courts, basketball hoop. And I'm there alone, and it's all mine all weekend, or after school, too.

BN: So it wasn't a boarding school, then?

FS: So.

BN: So the weekends it's empty.

FS: No, it was mine, I had the campus. And it was... I don't know what else I can say. I knew my place, if that makes sense. We're Asians, we weren't... my parents didn't have to tell me, I think I knew that I could watch from upstairs, my bedroom upstairs, or avoid mixing if you will, which I did until I became better at tennis. Then lo and behold, my tennis coach, who was coach at Westridge school, was also the coach of the Valley Hunt Club which is the other elite club of Pasadena. So it introduced me to a lot of things in Pasadena, if you will, and hierarchy.

BN: And then where did you go to school?

FS: Well, from there I went back to junior high school because we were on a different system, so I was in the tenth grade at McKinley junior high. In my tenth grade class, Bobby Uchida happened to be president, he happened to be in camp in my class at Gila. And Bobby is an old Pasadena family, so I connected with him pretty quickly and a few other guys in Southern California. So I went to McKinley and I fit in there fairly easily. Of course, there I could play sports. Yeah, I was carefree and my parents spoiled me again by buying me a motor scooter or motorbike, a whizzer motorbike. I was this dude, this Japanese dude that had this scooter or bike with a motor on it, when the other guys had regular bikes. It allowed me to get around, and also allowed me to, I guess, be kind of a novelty hotshot, huh? Because I became pretty good at different sports and I could mix with all the guys.

BN: Your parents must have been, were they making fairly decent money then if they were able to...

FS: My parents?

BN: Yeah.

FS: I don't know how much money they were making. I think they were making enough certainly to save a little to buy me...

BN: The house is provided, right?

FS: Yeah, the house was provided, but they --

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