Densho Digital Archive - George H. Morishita Interview (denshovh-mgeorge

<Begin Segment 8>

KL: Who were your friends there? Who'd you hang out with?

GM: Mostly Mexicans, yeah. Because I remember not too many years ago, I reconnected with a friend of mine that I used to hang out with after the war down in Japanese town. And I lived in Tucson at that time and he said, "We'll come eat at a restaurant in Monterey Park." I had no idea where he lived, I understand he lived in the valley. So we got there, and a couple older guys, a little older, came in and they knew him. And one of the guys says, "Hey, Mitchambo," and I went, good god, I haven't hear that. I knew Mits from before the war, I met him at Japanese school just before the war. And the older guy said, "Well, we grew up together in Japanese town before the war." He said, "Where are you from?" I said, "I was born on the other side of the river." "That was Mexican town." I said, "Yeah." [Laughs]

KL: Do you know why your parents settled in that neighborhood? Was that unusual? Were there other Japanese Americans?

GM: No, in fact when I was growing up, I think there was less Japanese than before. There were some, probably more Japanese families, and they moved out as they got a little better off financially, I guess. Yeah, I think so.

KL: Did you learn Spanish growing up at all?

GM: Well, I never thought about it because I'm not good at language, but I definitely must have understood Spanish. Because after the war, I lived in Sawtelle or West L.A. for a couple of weeks, and I met a guy that I knew I met in Manzanar in junior high school. I said, "Ray, do you know how to get to L.A. downtown?" He said, "Yeah, why?" Said, "Let's go see a movie this weekend." So went on the streetcar or whatever it was, and this Mexican guy, couple years older than us, and he kept getting behind us and speaking Spanish. And I expressed confusion and my friend said, "How would you understand him? He's speaking Spanish." I never thought of telling my friends in camp I spoke, I understood Spanish. And I couldn't understand what he was saying until he said the word, it's Mexican slang to say you want to fight, kiere catos, and not all Mexicans could understand that. And he says, "kiere catos," I said, "No." Then in English he goes, "Hey, you're a nice kid?" I said, "Yes, I am." "Okay, boy." Then when he got off the streetcar, my friend says, "See? I told you to." I say, "Yeah, I'm sure." And then one time at the YMCA, our club was down there swimming, and I heard this -- they used to call me Fi-chan. Because, see, the Japanese, if your name is Hideo, they'll say Hi-chan, Masao, Ma-chan, or something like that. And I guess my family used to call me Hi-chan. And when I probably first ventured out, I don't know how old, I must have said my name is Hi-chan. That's the only way I figured out years later. But they used to call me Fi-chan, and in Mexican or Spanish, that's "bottle top." [Laughs] But anyway, when we were teenagers, down at the YMCA, I heard a guy yelling, "Fi-chan," my friends aren't there, they don't know what's going on. And a Mexican guy swimming across the swimming pool, "Hey, Fi-chan," he's a little older and he comes up and he says, "Hey, Fi-chan from Flats, right?" I go, "Yeah." He said, "Don't you remember me?"

KL: And that was after the war?

GM: Oh, yeah, this was about '47, '48. And my friends didn't know what was going on, and I never thought to explain, "Oh, I lived on the other side of the..." It was after the war, I took some of my friends down by the railroad tracks off the First Street Bridge, and a train was coming behind us, "Hey, let's hop on." And one of my friends, I saw his legs swinging underneath, and I said, "You guys never did this before?" He said, "No, of course not." Because I remember when we lived in Tucson, every year we used to come to Los Angeles to visit family. And one time that Santa Ana freeway was packed, and I told my kids who were still in grammar school, "Oh, I'm going to give you a little tour of my neighborhood." And we got off of Indiana Street, and I said, "People don't know this, but east of me, East L.A., that's unincorporated. To my left is the District of L.A., that's Boyle Heights." I said, "You heard of Hollywood?" "Yeah." "Well, that's the District of L.A., it's not a city." Then all of a sudden I said, "Oh, this is Flats where I was born." And then my son, who was about twelve then, he went, "Gee, Dad, what a dump." [Laughs] I said, "Wait a minute. You see those trains? We used to hop on those things."

KL: How far did you ride 'em?

GM: Not very far, we were too young. Just to get a kick of getting on, and then we hop off or something like that. No, we were too young to... and then I tell them, "Do you know I almost drowned in the L.A. River?" They can't believe it, I said, "Yes, I did, almost."

KL: What happened?

GM: Well, it was unpaved then, yet, it wasn't paved. And all the kids were swimming around, and I was with my friend, and I slipped into a little deeper water. It was probably only about four feet or five feet. And I almost strangled my friend trying to save me, then probably a young teenager came behind me and kept pushing. And I tell people that water was dirty. I'd come up for air, I see stuff floating. [Laughs]

KL: Who were your teachers in that school, at Utah Street elementary school? Were they Mexican?

GM: Oh, no, they were Caucasians back then, yeah.

KL: Was there one that you remembered?

GM: I just remember two names. I had a second grade teacher named Mrs. Bean, B-E-A-N, and a fifth grade teacher named Mrs. Parker. That's all I remember.

KL: Why do you think you remember them?

GM: I don't know. Being maybe... I don't know if I got kept back, I got behind one semester, I know, because I remember we had a spelling test, and I cheated. I wrote down here...

KL: That's very big of you to acknowledge. [Laughs]

GM: Probably wrote "cat," "mouse" and all that. And you know, when you're that young, I'm not very bright. And I guess she was calling out the names, and I went, you know. And finally I'm waiting, waiting, waiting, and she's right there. I remember the next semester, one of my friends, Gilbert, "How come I'm in eighth grade," or something like that, "and you're still in...?" Well, you know. Maybe that's why I remember.