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BN: And then you mentioned the home. Did the family own the home?

SM: I believe they owned their home. It was on a place called Laguna Street about three blocks from the heart of San Francisco Japantown. Then because of his success, my father was able to afford a very, very comfortable house, a three-story Victorian on Sutter Street near Buchanan Street right in the heart of Japantown. In fact, that house was eventually turned over to JACL, it became the headquarters, San Francisco headquarters of JACL on Sutter Street. So that was after we came back from the war.

BN: Okay, yeah, I know exactly where that is. So is it the same building?

SM: Exact same building. They tore our house down and they built the JACL.

BN: The new JACL headquarters right on that spot. Wow, okay. Where did you go to school?

SM: Where did I go to school?

BN: Yes, as an elementary school...

SM: Well, I went to a grammar school about three blocks from my house called Raphael Weill. Raphael Weill school was very close to Japantown, so we had a lot of our friends going to the same school. Then after that, after the war, I went in to the camp aged nine, I was in the fourth grade. So after the war, we went to Salt Lake City, and then after Salt Lake City we moved back to San Francisco and I went to high school in San Francisco called Washington, George Washington High School. And I was there for one year and then I heard about this special private school, a college prep school called Lick Wilmerding, and so I went there. And I graduated from Lick Wilmerding High School.

BN: Yes, we'll get to that in a bit. But back to before the war, were your parents active in the community and things like a church or kenjinkai or Japanese Association or that kind of thing?

SM: My mother was not very active socially outside the house. But my father was, partly because of his business being a newspaper reporter, he had many connections. So he would be very active. I remember him interviewing a lot of people and getting to know a lot of people. So he was more outgoing and did a lot of work with their local Christian church and other organizations in San Francisco.

BN: So was your family Christian then?

SM: Yes, they were primarily Christian. My father minored in religion, and that's where he learned Christianity when he was in college. Kind of interesting story, he was fascinated with Hebrew, with the Jewish language and the Jewish religion. And I'm not sure, but I have a feeling he was almost a Japanese Jew, if you can imagine. But he finally settled in Christianity, and that's what his preferred religion was.

BN: Was he active in one of the local churches in San Francisco?

SM: Yes. It was called the Church of Christ on Post Street, and we were very active in that church.

BN: Was it a kind of Japanese church?

SM: It's a Japanese church. At that time, it was headed by a Reverend Howard Toriumi. I remember Howard and he was a very pivotal leader in the community.

BN: And then as a child, did you take part in church-related or other community-related activities, sports or Boy Scouts?

SM: I wasn't really active in the church except for a function that we held every Wednesday evening, and that was a choir practice night. Every Wednesday we would, all the people of my age would gather and go to church for choir practice. In fact, that's where I met my wife first time.

<End Segment 2> - Copyright © 2022 Densho. All Rights Reserved.