<Begin Segment 36>

TI: You know, when you talk about teaching in these military schools, I always, I always hear the term "military brats."

NH: Yeah, uh-huh.

TI: And so I'm wondering, how were the students? I mean, I'm guessing they're, one of the reasons they say "military brats" is because they're transitory. I mean, they keep moving from place to place.

NH: Uh-huh, they do. They move from one place to the other.

TI: So what is it like teaching in a military school like this?

NH: Oh, it's, to me it was really great. I enjoyed it very much, and I didn't mind the fact that the kids were, some came from, say, Germany, some came from Turkey, some came from the Philippines, and next year they would go to Korea or wherever their dads were assigned. And that just, that's the way it was. And the kids seemed to say, "Oh, that's the way it is. Next year I'm going to go to so and so." "Next year I'm going to go back to the States." "Next year I'm going to go to," wherever, Philippines or Germany or Turkey or wherever they had the school. The schools have dwindled so that there aren't that many in the world now, but before, there were a lot.

TI: Now, were there other Nisei teachers at the school?

NH: Uh-huh, a few, uh-huh. Every year there was at least, especially Hawaiian people came.

TI: And how did you like living in Japan?

NH: Oh, that was fun, yeah. See, when I first went there, it was 360 yen per dollar, and so it was living high on the hog. [Laughs]

TI: And so with your, your salary, your teacher's salary...

NH: My salary.

TI: ...it was...

NH: It was okay, yeah. It was fine.

TI: And what were your impressions in terms of Japan postwar rebuilding?

NH: Oh, my goodness. It was really, to me, it was just hectic, you know. They were still cleaning up rubble in certain parts of town, Tokyo. Some streets were still bad. And other places, the buildings were, were being torn down, broken buildings, and then over there, a brand new building would, these big skyscrapers, the new ones, would come up, and oh, just hectic activity. And I don't know where they got the money from, but they had money. It's amazing.

TI: And so how many years did you live in Japan?

NH: Oh, then I lived in Japan from when I went there 'til I retired in... when did I retire? '93?

TI: So we're talking over, about thirty years?

NH: Yeah, I was there, oh, thirty-seven years.

TI: So you saw incredible changes.

NH: Oh, yeah.

TI: You saw a country that was coming out of the ruins of a war, devastated by war, to the second largest economy in the world.

NH: Sure, uh-huh. Well, the downtown Tokyo area, it used, now, you go there and you'll see all these skyscrapers. When I went there, first went there, there weren't any. Then the first one, that one, I know which, I forgot the name of it, but anyhow, it went up. And everybody would look at it, and you know, they actually just stopped and look at it, and "Wow." But now, it's just all over. Not just Tokyo but, it doesn't matter where you go, you go to any big city and you see huge skyscrapers everywhere.

TI: And when the Japanese found out that you were a Japanese American, a Nisei, what kind of reaction did you get?

NH: "Huh?" "How come you speak Japanese so well?" is what I always get. I didn't speak that, I don't speak that well at all, but anyhow, they think I do.

TI: And how about your English? Where did your English come in handy, and, well, teaching, obviously.

NH: Yeah, I had...

TI: But outside of, when you're just traveling, does, did your English come in handy?

NH: No, not really. I didn't need to use it, I spoke Japanese when I was outside of camp.

<End Segment 36> - Copyright ©2008 Densho and the Topaz Museum. All Rights Reserved.