Densho Digital Archive - Art Imagire Interview (denshovh-iart-01-0011)

<Begin Segment 11>

RP: Now, let's talk about your situation, you're, what, almost ten years old, you're in a new town, a different school and I imagine that you might have been the only Japanese American in your class?

AI: Yeah, well, there were, other than... let me think a minute. There were, there were, there was, there were a couple of the families that happened to live there. One, there was one girl, Mimi, she was two or three years younger than I. There was Fumi's sister, Toshi, we went to different high schools, but I recall I took her out on the senior prom. And I think it was her senior prom, or either mine, I can't remember. But that was about it for my social life. It was...

RP: Did you have other Asian groups, like Chinese represented at all?

AI: That was all... there were a few Chinese but there weren't as many. There were probably as many Chinese as there were Japanese. There was one gal that was in my class -- and the fact is, when we had our fiftieth reunion, I met her at the reunion -- and, but that, she was the only one in my class. And there was a couple others. But I don't know what happened to 'em or anything. I didn't associate with them. So, and as far as... I never, I never dated any people outside my race. Fact is, one time when I was in college, I asked this one girl out and she accepted and then later on she said, "Oh, I'm sorry. I can't go." And I kinda think it was her parents or something that said she couldn't go out. So, but then, after, when I moved from Reno after I graduated to San Francisco, I felt almost -- even though I was Japanese -- I was conspicuous. I felt conspicuous amongst all these Japanese 'cause I wasn't used to seeing so many. So, yeah.

RP: Did you feel that way in school, in Reno? You know, that, feel so different between...

AI: Yeah, a little bit. Everyone was really nice to me. Fact is, when I was in junior high school, I ran for senior class president. I was the only... I ran unopposed. So I won that. And I got, I was in a couple of school... I was school officer for, in high school, too, but I never did do anything big. [Laughs] But everyone... and when I go back to the reunions, everyone, they're all... but I always feel like I kinda missed out on something because you hear all these of how they all used to go out and raise a ruckus and that sort of thing. Go to the drive-in and hang out. But I never did participate too much in that other than the little class activities that I had.

RP: How about your... when you said your brother tried to get into college?

AI: Oh, my brother?

RP: UNR?

AI: Oh, I don't recall much about that other than the fact that he tried and he couldn't get in.

RP: So what did he end up doing in Reno?

AI: Well, he said he... oh, I told you the story about how he worked in a rooming house and how he had, because of the curfew, how he had to stay at the, at the place because of the curfew. And he would just come home on weekends. And when I approached my brother about that he says, "You know what, I don't recall anything about that." So, I don't know if there's any truth to that or not.

RP: Like the question of what kind of restrictions you were...

AI: Yeah, well, we did have curfew. You had to be in at eight o'clock at night.

RP: And that was just specifically targeted for Japanese Americans.

AI: For Japanese, if you were Japanese, yeah. And all I remember used to have blackouts. I remember used to have the blackouts. Used to have to turn all the lights off and all that. So I remember that. But that was everybody --

RP: Everybody.

AI: -- had to participate in that.

RP: Uh-huh. That was the only other restriction that you can recall is the eight o'clock a.m. to eight p.m. curfew?

AI: Uh, no, I don't even think there was a travel limitation.

RP: Right.

AI: Yeah.

RP: How about a restriction on gatherings? Some folks in Colorado who we interviewed about a month ago said there were restrictions on... there could only be two cars in the yard or a certain number of people to gather at one time.

AI: I don't, I don't recall. We used, we used to have parties with other what few, what few friends there were, Japanese. And we used to, they used to get -- I remember my mother used to have parties for 'em and they'd all come over and they'd do singing and drinking and all that sort of thing. But I don't recall of any restrictions on gathering.