Densho Digital Archive - Akiko Okuno Interview (denshovh-oakiko-01-0007)

<Begin Segment 7>

KL: I'm taking notes, 'cause there's like seven questions I want to ask you right now, and I'm trying to keep track of all of them. Where did you learn Japanese language?

AO: At home. And then when my mother was teaching, we went with her, but she didn't spend any time on us.

KL: She was teaching Japanese language?

AO: She was the Japanese language teacher in Hollister, and then later in Gilroy.

KL: What was the building that she taught at in Hollister, do you know?

AO: It was just a little building, and I don't know whether it belonged to some family, one of the Japanese families, or whether it was rented.

KL: Was it like a community center or a home or a church?

AO: It was just a little building, but that first school, I don't remember. It was across the street from a Japanese family, and it could be that they obtained the premises for us. And then we later moved to another spot, and that building belonged to the Taoka family, I think.

KL: That was in Hollister also?

AO: It was also in Hollister.

KL: And then she taught also in Cienega?

AO: No. Because there were only three Japanese families in Cienega, and the two other families moved out, probably about four or five years before we did. So we were the only Japanese family there.

KL: And were most of the migrant workers Filipino or were they from different places?

AO: The Japanese families were farmers, the Uyenos, U-Y-E-N-O, and the Obatas, O-B-A-T-A. [Stands up]

KL: Let me unhook you.

AO: No, I just looked to see what picture was standing up there. I want to mount a picture up there that Dorothy, Tomi Obata, from the Obata family painted. She's an artist.

KL: Is she around your age?

AO: Yes. So she may be a little bit younger than I, about a half a year younger than I. But she's an artist living in Hawaii, and quite well-known in the Japanese community.

KL: Were the Obatas and the Uyenos there all year round?

AO: Oh, yeah, they lived there.

KL: And some of their kids were in school with you?

AO: Oh, yes. Yes.

KL: Who were the other students, the twenty who were there year round?

AO: Well, by the time I went to school, the Uyenos and Obatas had moved out. So our family, we were the only --

KL: Where did they go?

AO: To Hollister.

KL: Why did they move, do you know?

AO: Probably either the land that they were farming, they were looking for bigger land or more land, or the people that they were renting from, I don't know why they would. Or maybe they moved to Hollister because it would be closer to schools, and the children would have better schools. Because... yeah, at the time they were still there, we had Miss Klauer for our teacher, and I don't think she was as wonderful as Mrs. Trowbridge. Mrs. Trowbridge was my teacher when I started school. Just very innovative. For instance, like for spelling, instead of... because for a lot of the things like reading, the first graders are here, the second graders and the third graders, and she'd take each grade separately and spend time with them. But for spelling, she would have the whole school at once taking the spelling test. And she'd say, "First graders could drop out here, second graders can drop out here," and so on, when you reached. And if you wanted to, you kept on as far as you could, and it was always a challenge to go to the end.

KL: What was the test like? How were you tested for spelling?

AO: She would give words, spelling words, and you'd just spell, write them down. So it'd start with "cat" and stuff like this. and I remember the last word was "pneumonia." That's the one I missed.

KL: Did you have a list to study from, or was it a surprise?

AO: No. Well, you were reading and things like this, so you learned. And maybe it was old fashioned teaching, but we certainly learned.

KL: It sounds really holistic.

AO: It was, it was. And you learned to read by sounding out letters. But then when I was about to go into the third grade...

KL: This test where you had the word "pneumonia," how old were you for that test?

AO: I think I was like in second grade. But even before I started, before I started school, we didn't have kindergarten. But my sister would, in Georgia's, would be teacher and student, we'd play, instead of playing house, you'd play school. And so I was learning; I knew my alphabet, and could do a lot of things like addition.