<Begin Segment 14>

DG: Could you tell me a little bit about discrimination?

NS: In Japan? Well, yes. At the time I went, there were only three girls: one from Portland, one from San Francisco. I -- and, of course, we would get together and we'd go downtown on a streetcar. Well, it would be natural for us to speak in English, and so we'd get on the bus, a streetcar, and we'd be talking in English. And people would look around and say, "Namaiki," which is "smart alec," as though we were putting on something. And, of course, they give us angry looks because they couldn't understand what we were talking about. So that was a reaction of the people around us. But we did on Saturdays -- we would get together and go downtown and go to the movies or go shopping, things like that.

[Interruption]

DG: Part of the reason you went to Japan is because there was no jobs here and so you had the discrimination here that was... go ahead and tell me.

NS: Well, there were only a few jobs available here and mostly it was secretarial to the Japanese firms here. American firms didn't hire Japanese girls at that time. There weren't any salespersons or anything else in stores, in the white stores, and there was no Japanese, no place for college graduates to find jobs unless it was with an importing firm and there wasn't too many of them. And so there were no jobs available teaching or anything else. So I think my mother thought that I could go to Japan and get some more education. But then I found this same situation there where they weren't ready for English-speaking Japanese women, [Laughs] especially women, because it was more of a male-oriented country at that time.

DG: 'Cause that period of time really impressed you for your later activities, I think.

NS: It might have. Well, I haven't thought about it, but it might have, uh-huh. But there was always something to do.

DG: Well, so that made you strong as far as Americanism, because you came back.

NS: Yes, uh-huh. I came back and I knew I'd have to do something over here.

DG: So there was a -- what I'm referring to is that there's a huge amount of discrimination here that you faced, but you went to Japan and faced an equal amount.

NS: It was equal or even worse because I couldn't express myself too well, especially in a foreign language and so...

DG: So that solidified your feelings about Americanism, probably.

NS: That's right. And so when I came back -- and that was in... and then went to college, of course, and after I finished college there wasn't any job. They weren't hiring Nisei teachers or anything else, and the only thing was, there were jobs available with churches in religious education. There were only three churches in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle; but they hired Nisei girls and mostly college graduates to take care of their Young People's Sunday school. So I went to -- after graduation I went to...

DG: This is from the university?

NS: From the university.

DG: Of Washington?

NS: Of Washington. I went to -- it was the World's Fair there in Los Angeles.

DG: Or the Olympics?

NS: The Olympics, there in Los Angeles and so I went there. I had my -- Mother's brother was there in Pasadena, my uncle, and so...

DG: This is 1932.

NS: 1932. And so I went there on a visit and also the Young People's workers that was in at the church was also in Los Angeles. So I, with the two of them there, I went there. And it was the Olympics and so, with all of that going on, I went down there. But she had persuaded me to stop in at Pacific School of Religion where she went to see if I didn't want to continue my education there. So on the way back from that trip, I stopped in Berkeley and found that I could enroll in the school there and get a master's. So I stayed and went to school. I stayed with a woman that was very close to the school, but eventually ended up at International House in Berkeley and worked there in the cafeteria for my meals and was there for a couple of years in Berkeley until I graduated in the religious education field. But by the time I graduated there, there still wasn't any job available, so I was home and that was what, '32? And...

<End Segment 14> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.