<Begin Segment 6>

RP: Now, you said your father graduated from high school.

KO: Yes, that is what I understand, yeah.

RP: And he also had --

KO: I never got the true story. I'm trying to find out.

RP: He also had a business, too, so he must have had --

KO: Oh, he started the business after that.

RP: Right, so he had a certain level of fluency in English?

KO: Yes, he spoke quite well. And my mother seemed to understand, and could speak enough, better than most.

RP: Most Issei?

KO: But my dad spoke pretty good English.

RP: With a business like that, it would seem he would have had to.

KO: Yes, uh-huh. He was a very friendly soul, nice, mild and nice. I remember that. I don't think I ever recall him losing his temper.

RP: Did he express himself outwardly?

KO: Not as much. I think he, yeah, I don't know whether it's a Japanese trait or not, but I think we have problems expressing ourselves.

RP: You said your mother was a little more the talker.

KO: Yes, a little more vocal, yes. A lot more confidence, I think that's the way to put it. That's my childhood as I recall, and I did get in trouble a little bit. I was kind of the, I was the family renegade, I think. [Laughs] Very active.

RP: Like what?

KO: Oh, I remember getting in a fight one day at school and my dad had to come. That's a no-no, you know, with people.

RP: Where did you go to school, Kats?

KO: I went to school at Pacific School. All of us in the neighborhood went there. That used to be on, if I recall correctly, it was on Eleventh Avenue and I don't know how far over, maybe Pine or somewhere in there. I don't recall anymore 'cause they closed it down. Then I went to, they established Washington Middle School, and that's where I went. Then I went to Broadway High School. I was there a year and a half, really, that's about it, when we got evacuated.

RP: The notice?

KO: I was fifteen when I, we left Seattle. So...

<End Segment 6> - Copyright © 2007 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.