<Begin Segment 33>

DG: Now, there was another subject matter about the Kibei relationships? Why was that a problem?

NS: The Kibei never wanted to accept the Niseis, probably because of their language difficulties. They couldn't express themselves and they felt that -- and I think -- I don't know whether it was the fault of the family and their upbringing that they felt themselves more Japanese than assimilating into the American culture. And perhaps they wanted to go back to Japan or they had part of their education in Japan and came over here, because a lot of the young people -- their parents sent them to Japan to go to school, and then brought them back here, which was a mistake because they were foreign to their parents as well as foreign to the people around them, around here.

DG: Right. We should define "Kibei." What does it mean?

NS: "Kibei" is a child that was born in the United States and was taken to Japan to be educated and then brought back to the United States. And that occurred in a good many families and it wasn't because of age or anything. Mostly they came back after their high school and, therefore, they were adults, but not quite adult enough to analyze their own situation. And that's why they were, they had misfits in a good many of the places. They were misfits because they didn't have the same outlook or...

DG: Well, they were instilled with that Yamato damashii, or whatever.

NS: Something. They had something instilled in them that they couldn't be wholly Nisei. And their English was not perfect because they had spent so much time in Japan. And a lot of the Japanese culture and their pride, they were instilled a lot of the Japanese pride in their being, so that they just couldn't accept being Nisei. But the Nisei didn't have the Japanese experience, so they weren't bothered, excepting to know that the Kibei just didn't think the way they did.

DG: That's interesting.

NS: That's why I feel that I can understand both having been to Japan and been here, too, that I can understand the differences.

<End Segment 33> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.