<Begin Segment 8>

FA: You were an Issei who spoke English at Broadway High School. Were there other Issei like you at Broadway High School at that time, or did you socialize more with the Nisei who spoke English?

SS: Well, I guess the friends with whom I played in those days were practically all Nisei.

FA: Were they the same age as you?

SS: Yeah. Quite a few of them were going to that grammar school, and then later on when I went to Broadway, and...

FA: Who were your friends at Broadway High School? Any names you recall?

SS: Let's see... there was a Japanese doctor that lived in that same block that we lived on when we were living on 811 1/2 Spruce Street and most of the houses on that block were occupied by Japanese. And there was a Japanese doctor there and he had a house on the corner, I remember. The doctor lived in the best place right on the corner of Yesler Way and Eighth Avenue. And I made friends with the boys and the girls from the Japanese family who lived in that block and adjacent blocks. There was a fair Japanese settlement there.

FA: Were you friends with Bill Hosokawa at Broadway High School?

SS: No, I never became friends with Bill.

FA: James Omura?

SS: Omura? No. My best friend that, when I lived there, was the son of the doctor. He was a born gentleman. His father obviously had come from samurai class. The father was quite successful. He had two cars, I remember, a Pierce Arrow and a Buick.

FA: Did you date girls?

SS: No, no. In those days I didn't have enough money to take anybody anywhere.

FA: Did you read the Japanese American Courier newspaper?

SS: I guess at that time when I first went there I was only about seven years old -- wait a minute, I was more than seven, I was older than that. I was already eleven. Four and a half years. No, I never dated girls simply because I didn't have any change to spend and I didn't have any suitable clothes to wear to go anywhere.

SF: Did you play sports in high school?

SS: No. The only sport that ever interested me was judo and it had a very practical purpose.

SF: What sticks in your mind about growing up essentially an Issei at Broadway High School? What did you guys do and how was life in general?

SS: Well, at Broadway, I did well. I was an honor student always. I had no difficulty at school.

<End Segment 8> - Copyright © 1997 Densho. All Rights Reserved.