Densho Digital Archive
Densho Visual History Collection
Title: Frank S. Fujii Interview
Narrator: Frank S. Fujii
Interviewers: Larry Hashima (primary), Beth Kawahara (secondary)
Location: Seattle, Washington
Date: September 3 and 5, 1997
Densho ID: denshovh-ffrank-01-0026

<Begin Segment 26>

LH: Well, as close as you were to your parents, was it really difficult for you to leave, a couple months before them to...

FF: Yes, it did. It's interesting you said that. 'Cause when I left, it didn't dawn on me who gonna help them pack and lift up the stuff and they were... I shouldn't say they were too old. They must have been, gee, in their fifties or that's not too old, but still, it's a lot of labor to do. And no one, Seibo, I think, sort of helped but he had his family to deal with and -- I take it back, Seibo left before me. So there was no one left but myself in the family, and I think that made it tough. But only in retrospect, though. I said, "Geez, who's going to help them?" I didn't even realize. But I heard some people in the same block helped them out, which was nice. I thought that was nice that they did that. But, you know, when you're young, all you're thinking about's yourself. You want to get out of camp, settle down and go to high school, which I wasn't looking forward to. 'Cause I think to deal with white society after you've been in camp for four years is tough. And I was really uncomfortable, and thinking that I had lot of things going for me such as sports and all, but when that fell through, you feel like I have nothing. And being -- like I hate to smile on the poor -- but I think it's because most of the Niseis were poor in a sense. There were some who had property, I think, which worked out for them. But I only could speak of our family, and I think it was a tough for my folks. But amazingly, we all survived. You know, it's -- Dad lived 'til, well, few years in nursing home, but Dad -- no, Dad wasn't in the nursing home too long. He died at eighty-four, Mom in '66, Mom in '77 was eighty-three. So they were quite a few years apart. But they, they made... you know Mom never gave up. She, she was really a special person to... Dad, he, he never griped, moaned. He just existed and I think that part hurts when you think of looking at your parents as a person who all used to be smiling, and if Mom invites people, he doesn't care, 'cause Mom's a good cook and so forth. And Dad was a provider in those days -- to have a tavern and raise nine kids. If you could survive with that, in fact I kind of, I kind of wonder -- I'm awed that my father and mother had nine. I thought wow, it's tough enough to deal with a couple now, or even one.

No, I think I've been lucky, 'cause everybody in the family is supportive and I think when I even went to college, they didn't say, "Hey, dummy, you're not gonna make it." I think they never said, "Hey you're gonna make it," I think it was up to me. But they were on the long haul were proud that probably I had finished. 'Cause the day that Dad found out that I got -- well, JACL had a dinner for all the graduates and I said, "Mom, you going to come to the graduation party? I have to go." And, "Dad's going to go with you." And I said, "Okay," so Dad came. I said, "Gee, Dad never goes to places," but he sat with me. I was thinking, "Oh, big deal, got to sit and eat and do things." All of a sudden they're naming people's names and says, "Frank Shobo Fujii, Bachelor of Arts, University of Washington," because there were people from other colleges, B.A. and art education and art. And then when I stood up, gee, I was shocked, my dad was so proud. I didn't feel -- I didn't expect that. He, 'cause, see, I didn't -- at that time it didn't dawn on me I was the only one in the family that had a degree. And I think for him to think that one of the kids got education and "made it," so to speak, in terms of being able to go to the higher, the school of higher education, I think he, he showed his proudness. And I didn't -- I thought that Dad was just gonna sit and smile and be happy. Well he, he really felt emotional and I felt hey this is worth it, you know. And that part, it never left me. 'Cause I thought it was going to be a drag of a dinner, and awards ceremony and getting your certificate or whatever they gave, JACL gave you at the time. And so that made it, I guess, when I felt he -- although life is just beginning when you get your degree, it hadn't even started yet, you know. But I was, I was pleased. I didn't think that was going to be a big thing.

<End Segment 26> - Copyright © 1997 Densho. All Rights Reserved.