<Begin Segment 9>

AI: What kinds of things do you remember either your father or your mother emphasizing as important ways to be, important ways to live, the values and the principles that you grew up with?

RT: Oh, yes. Well, I think one of the main things was that you just didn't do anything to dishonor the family name. I think that was probably one of the main points, and we learned that quickly. You don't do things that will be a black mark on the family name, and, of course, we never dared. They were, we thought, quite strict. They just... there were, there were things that they just told us we couldn't do, period. I mean, there was no discussion, or explanation. No, this is, "You can't do this," and that was it. And we certainly accepted that. I suppose that is part of the way that we were raised. And of course, both my mother and my father, they had "the look." You know, a parent has "the look," and they give you "the look," and you know that this is not what you're supposed to be doing or saying. I'm sure that almost everybody knows what I mean by "the look" because they both had it, and we really minded that. We could sense immediately if we were doing something that was not acceptable, especially my father. My mother, of course, was more verbal. She was not shy about expressing herself. And we were told, by her especially.

AI: So that stereotype of the quiet Nisei lady wasn't very close to reality for your mom.

RT: Nope, she sure wasn't. She was her own person. And she certainly expressed herself whenever she felt like it. And so even my kids, they still talk about grandma. And, "What did Grandma say?" or "What would Grandma say?" or "What did Grandma say?" I mean, she is immortal as far as they're concerned, because they remember her so well. And no, she was not shy and she was not the typical self-effacing Japanese American Nisei.

<End Segment 9> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.