<Begin Segment 25>

TI: Okay, so now, so you're back at training, and so you're in, what E-9, you said? The class. You were pretty high level Japanese class.

NM: Yeah, yeah. Well, anyway, we were in pretty high class. By god, that's hard, too. But I made it. But they said they're gonna give you a furlough, once you get in the... I tried out for basketball. And then they took me, and then I was training, and then went to Minnesota, university campus, they got the fieldhouse, what a big fieldhouse. They play football, they practice football, all inside there, football field. And they had a basketball court, too. Although the basketball team, I wasn't chosen yet. I was, we were just picked out. And then we went out to play Minnesota school, basketball team.

TI: So was this an army team?

NM: Yeah, this is army team.

TI: Was it all Japanese?

NM: All Japanese, yeah.

TI: Okay, so an all-Japanese MIS team.

NM: All Japanese students. They said we're going to a Japanese school with all Japanese.

TI: And you're playing against the Minnesota team?

NM: And then there's some hakujin, they got their special own class. They get lot of things easy. Us guys, we have a hard time. They get it, lieutenant, officer. Us guys, PFC, corporal, but I didn't even get that. So I'm a flunky. [Laughs] They didn't give us nothing. They said, "You'll get it when you enter school, and then when you graduate, and then when you get overseas," nothing. They didn't say one word. And then everybody scattered. Nobody know what's what.

TI: So the Japanese, they only got private or corporal, but if you were white, you got to be an officer.

NM: Well, we didn't even get the PFC.

TI: Okay.

NM: No... today. They said, "You'll get it when you go overseas, get it," you know. So would be corporal, everybody corporal by then. I didn't get nothing.

TI: So now tell me about that basketball game. So you went to play basketball?

NM: Oh, yeah. I went out for basketball practice, and then they took us to that practice field there, huge football player were all practicing there. This was December. Then basketball, too, played against our team there. So I took one ball away, dribbled up, boom. When I went up, boom. They're tall. I knew he was following me. I said, "What shall I do now? Shall I go this way or this way?" I was thinking. But I just go, shot. He blocked it. I knew he was gonna block. Big guy, anyway, you know. I was gonna be something tricky, jump, and then I was gonna go left hand, you know, but I didn't. Knocked it out. Anyway, I didn't make it. I got sick. I got a cold, so one week I stayed in the hospital. So basketball, no more. But then softball came out, softball, I played, we played against Wisconsin and so forth. Okay. And there was a Japanese restaurant there run by... who was it? Yoshikawa? Somebody from Fresno was running a restaurant there in town, in Minneapolis. So we went to the restaurant and eat there. I saw some friend of mine, yeah. So I was there about six months. We started, I think E-9 or something, section. E-9.

TI: And about what time, what year was this when you were in training? What year was this?

NM: Well, in training, we get called out, we got to fall out, and then we still march here and there. That's about it.

TI: But what was the date? What year, what date was it when you were training?

NM: '75, '76.

TI: No, not... you mean '46, 1946?

JS: '76? No. '76... we went into language school.

TI: Yeah, what year was it? 1944?

NM: No.

TI: Was it before the war ended?

NM: No, the war ended when I was training.

TI: Okay, that's what I wanted to establish. So the war had ended, so this was '45, '46.

NM: 1946.

TI: '46, okay. So you're really being trained to, for the occupation.

NM: Yes. 'Til about wintertime, I think.

JS: Can you tell us about your, Mr. Sameshima?

NM: Who?

JS: Sameshima. He was --

NM: Sameshima? Yeah, you know, Sameshima was my teacher. And then one of his brother was still a student, too. There was two Sameshima that I met. One was a teacher, and they were good, Japanese. My Japanese was up to sixth, seventh grade, but that was higher, E-2, I forgot now, E-9. George Kumagai was my friend, and we got stuck. We were in Tokyo, too. And then PFC rating is frozen right now, they'll give it to you when you enter school, we didn't get it. And then you'll get a corporal when you graduate. We didn't get it. Then overseas, you'll get it overseas. Then one day I saw George. George was, Kumagai was lieutenant.

TI: And you stayed a PFC?

NM: He told me, "Nori, once you re-up one more year, you get this rating." I said, "George, I got a job already, and I'm gonna get this, I'm going out. I got a job already, so I'm not going to change it." So I went to Yokohama and I worked in the post office.

<End Segment 25> - Copyright © 2010 Densho and Preserving California's Japantowns. All Rights Reserved.