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AL: Did you go to a Japanese language school?

AN: Yes, I did. I went for, let's see now, probably through the fifth or sixth grade, and that interrupted my surfing hours in the afternoon, so I finally quit. And also, the only thing I enjoyed going to Japanese school was us kids were learning judo, we took lessons in judo, so that was interesting. So I went to the Japanese school to learn judo, that's about all. I finally told my mother I don't want to go anymore. I wish I did, though.

AL: What was, for somebody if they were not familiar with Japanese language school, could you explain the kinds of things that you would study and do in, like, did you study religion or history? What did you study in Japanese language school?

AN: Well, in Japanese we mostly, of course, we were in grade school level. So we had like normal American grade school stories, learn how to read, learn how to write the different characters, things of that sort. So I was, like I say, just going to fifth grade, so I didn't have much of an education. But when the war came, I regretted it. I wish I had completed, like some of the boys did, they finished their grade school and some of them went to high school in Japanese. And those were, most of those were the ones that went to MIS, because they learned, they can speak the language. And many families spoke the Japanese language at home. So all my friends were able to read and write letters during the war to their parents in Japanese. And I envied that because I couldn't -- of course, my mother was American-born, so I just wrote English. But I only wish I had learned a little more.

AL: Did your father speak English at home or Japanese?

AN: He spoke half and half, half and half. He was a little more stronger on Japanese.

AL: How often would you go to Japanese language school and how long would you stay?

AN: Every day for about an hour and a half, Monday through Friday, right after English school.

AL: What was the name of your Japanese language school?

AN: McCully, McCully Japanese Language School.

AL: How do you spell McCully?

AN: M-C-C-U-L-L-Y, McCully.

AL: Oh, I thought it was a Hawaiian name. [Laughs]

AN: No, no.

AL: It sounds Irish. It's a big help that you're spelling then names, we appreciate that. Because ultimately the interview will be transcribed, and it's helpful. So did your mother work outside the home at all, or was she a homemaker?

AN: No, she was strictly a homemaker.

AL: And were her parents still in Hawaii when you were growing up there? Did your grandparents live in Hawaii?

AN: Oh, yeah, they lived in Hawaii all the time.

AL: Did you get to interact much with your grandparents?

AN: Yeah, because my mother always used to take me over to Grandma and Grandpa's house. I went there quite often to play with her brothers and sisters, my aunts and uncles.

AL: Tell me about your grandparents.

AN: My grandparents? Oh, they were... they were really nice to me, because my mother was the oldest, and I guess I was one of the first grandchild. So I was treated really nice by my grandparents, yeah. They really treated me very good, I enjoyed them. Too bad, because I didn't realize then, but my grandma died when she was only fifty-four years old, something like. I didn't know she was that young. To me, she was old, but she wasn't.

AL: When she died, did she leave behind small children?

AN: Yes, she left her family, of course.

AL: Were any of those children still, like, in elementary school?

AN: No. They were all grown up, yeah. They were pretty well grown up.

AL: And your family, like your grandparents, what was their... and your parents, what was their religious background?

AN: My grandparents? I believe that they were Buddhists. Buddhists, yeah. That's what they were.

AL: Do you know which sect of Buddhist?

AN: No, I really don't remember.

AL: But were they practicing Buddhists?

AN: I don't think so. They had their altar at home, so I guess you can say they practiced their religion.

AL: What about your father? What was his religious background?

AN: My father was a Christian so he went to Christian church in Hawaii. Old folks like my father, that age group, they have a Japanese Christian church. So he attended Christian church once in a while. Not every time, but he participated quite a bit.

AL: Was it any particular denomination of Christian?

AN: I think he just called it Japanese Christian church.

AL: Do you know, was he Christian in Japan or Christian after immigrating?

AN: I really don't know. All I know is when he came to Hawaii, I know he was a Christian.

AL: So in your own childhood, could you describe your religious formation as a child? Like did you go to Sunday school, did you go to Buddhist services?

AN: Well, as far as religion is concerned, I was free to act on my own. They didn't persuade me to do this, to go to this church or that church. They felt that the time will come when I will make my own decision, and that's what I did. I was free to join any church I desired to go. So they didn't force me, they didn't direct me, they said, "You're on your own on that."

<End Segment 4> - Copyright © 2012 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.