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BY: All right, let's talk a little bit about you. First of all, do you have any siblings?

KY: I do. I have a sister.

BY: Okay, older or younger?

KY: Older sister.

BY: All right. And where did you grow up?

KY: I grew up in Tacoma area. So basically from elementary school through high school.

BY: And can you talk a little bit about your neighborhood? What was it like? What was the ethnic makeup of the neighborhood?

KY: It was somewhat diverse in that we were close by to McChord Air Force Base in Fort Lewis. And, but I would say, though, that the student body was primarily or a majority white with a few Asian and vary few Native American, very few African American.

BY: Okay. And so who were your friends?

KY: Mostly Asian, the handful that there were. [Laughs] And then, of course, friends from church.

BY: And tell me a little bit about your church.

KY: Well, first it was Spokane Buddhist Temple until we moved to the Tacoma area, and then Tacoma Buddhist Temple. So I've been attending now for quite some time.

BY: And so your church friends, then, were all Japanese Americans.

KY: Yeah.

BY: Okay. So it sounds like your family was active in the Buddhist temple. What kinds of things do you remember doing?

KY: Well, I think it was just the usual fundraisers and attending conventions and so forth. I think it was just a part of, that was part of the community. I think even growing up, in thinking about it, we were always encouraged to stick to our own kind. So that's why, in school, I always sought out, there weren't very many Japanese students that always sought out Asian American friends and so forth. I think that that's sort of why.

BY: And besides the Buddhist temple, were you and your family involved in any other kind of community activities?

KY: No, not growing up, no.

BY: Okay. And as a child or as a teenager, did you have any Asian American role models?

KY: I tried to think about that. You know, there were very few. And the only two that I could think of were, that I saw on TV, right? And so one was Bruce Lee and I think the other one was George Takei.

BY: I mean, I think one of the reasons we ask that question is because there really weren't very many.

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