Densho Digital Archive - James Nishimura Interview (denshovh-njames-01-0004)

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RP: James, you spoke about your mother sharing stories with you in Japanese. Did you eventually attend Japanese language school?

JN: Yes, my brother and I, we both attended Japanese -- as did my older brother and sister in Seattle. Oh, well, they came back -- as soon as my father married my mother, my uncle, that is, my mother's older brother, sent the two children back immediately. And my father to this day, if he was alive, would say, "That son of a gun." [Laughs] But yes, we did attend koukou gakkou in Seattle.

RP: That was the large...

JN: Yeah, that was the large school near our church, St. Peter's. But anyway, I went through third grade, third book, which is three years, and I think George, my younger brother, who was a year younger than I, went to book two.

RP: For many young Nisei kids it was an opportunity to socialize and develop relationships with other kids in the community. Was that the case for you?

JN: Well, not really. We just had to go to school. It was just the norm to, after going to English, regular school, an hour and a half later, we went to Japanese school. And we stayed from, I don't know, 4:00 to 5:00, it was only an hour, and as I said, it was my first language. I was able to recall, remember the phonetic alphabet, and I corresponded years later, when I got married, with my mother in the phonetic alphabet. And I didn't realize what it meant to her to get a letter from me. As my father said... [cries]. Excuse me, I wish you could tape these things, cut these scenes out. But anyway, that was my life at home before the war.

RP: Where did you go to elementary school in Seattle?

JN: I went to, well, we first went to Washington School and then I don't know what happened, they consolidated school districts or whatever, and I went to Bailey Gatzert which is where many, many Japanese American children went.

RP: Do you have any remembrances of your grammar school experiences, or, particularly teachers?

JN: Oh yes, I recall, I recall every one of my grade school teachers by name. They were all great influences in my life. From grade school, it's incredible. I remember especially Miss Phelan, who was a music teacher, and I played the violin, which is a misnomer, but I took violin lessons. And there was another fellow, Ray Taniguchi, who I knew from second grade, and he and I decided we would give a concert to our classmates. [Laughs] But it endeared us to Miss Phelan forever, and I... yeah, that was, Bailey Gatzert was, I would say, 90 percent Japanese Americans or Chinese Americans. It was really the first time we had so many, many Japanese American friends. Not that I even knew they were Japanese, I mean, I didn't relate to them ethnically, you know, they were just other kids. But yeah, that was a great school.