<Begin Segment 19>

TL: You've been telling me about George's background, and I'm interested in any similarities in his education since he too was Kibei.

AT: I was happy to speak to him in Nihongo because I can express myself better; and, of course, George can read and write Nihongo quite well, too. My first letter to him I wrote in classical Japanese writing with a sumi and fude. Would you like to see it?

TL: Maybe at the end that would be nice to look at that, yes.

AT: George kept it and I kept it, and I still have it because it was my first letter to him and I just wanted to keep it.

TL: How old was he when he went to Japan and how long did he stay?

AT: I think he was sent to Japan about seven or eight and... what year did he come back? He came back and then after he went one or two years in Japanese high school and then came back, I think.

TL: Do you think that while he was studying in Japan that he studied the same kinds of things that you did, or because of where he was living would the curriculum have been different?

AT: Well, there are quite a few years between the time so that I think it was different 'cause the time I was growing up in Japan, Japan was in war with Manchuria and all that, and his time was probably not in war time, yes.

<End Segment 19> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.