<Begin Segment 17>

DG: How do you feel when you go visit the schools and talk to the schoolchildren? What is that like for you?

KN: It was okay. They ask really intelligent questions. And I was telling one of the teachers, when we went a couple weeks ago to Sakai School, I said, "Instead of us telling them everything from beginning to end, it's better for the students to ask us questions, then they'll learn what they are most interested in and curious about." And I told the teachers, they do ask such smart, intelligent questions, some of the things that we didn't even think about until we were seniors in high school. They're just so well-read and they understand so much. And the world is small, too, so with TV and everything, you know.

[Interruption]

DG: So can you tell me more? I'm so impressed that you, you go and visit the schools and take so much time today to talk about this and share more about that experience, visiting schoolchildren today.

KN: Yeah, we all do it. You know, like Hisa goes, and even Lilly, Lilly... well, we go in, we answer questions in groups. So the sixth grade classes learn before they get to high school. So we just take care of the sixth graders, and I think there are about five or six classes.

DG: Can you think of any of those insightful questions that were asked? [Laughs] What were some of the questions that impressed you from the sixth graders?

KN: Oh, there are so many. I don't know if I could even remember, there are so many good questions. Except when Frank mentioned, one of the kids asked, "Now, why did you guys bomb America?" [Laughs] You know, just because he's Japanese, and questions like that, that was kinda weird, but I've never had, we've never had questions like that. Yeah, they're very smart.

DG: And you talked about some people saying that this topic has been talked about too much, and that it should be done with. Why do you feel they feel that way?

KN: Well, it's not the Caucasians that said that, it's the Japanese people that said it. And so I had to explain... somebody said, "Oh, are they are doing it again at school, Sakai School?" And I said, "Yes." I wondered at one time why they were doing it every year, but I could understand it now, you have to let the students know that it happened, that it should not happen again, so they should be well-informed, educated, so they could prevent something like this from happening again. So, I have to explain that to some Japanese people that bring the subject up, "Why are you doing this so much?" Well, this is why: it's very educational. It seems like it's so repetitious, but it is very educational. And the way the world is now going, you just never know. We hope it never happens to anybody again.

<End Segment 17> - Copyright © 2006 Densho. All Rights Reserved.