<Begin Segment 9>

RP: I imagine, like most Nisei kids, did you attend Japanese language school?

CH: Yes, I did.

RP: And how early did you start that?

CH: Well, see, I started when I was in the third grade 'til twelfth grade. So a long time.

RP: So you went through how many books?

CH: Pardon?

RP: How many books did you go through?

CH: I have no idea. It was so difficult at the end. See, my teacher, Mrs. Sasaki, spoke only in Japanese. So we got to figure out all the words and what she's telling us, translating in our minds. So it was not easy, very difficult. Of course, we learned to write, too.

RP: And what else... was there additional lessons or... in Japanese culture, history?

CH: Yeah. We had a time where she showed us to do tie dye, that kind of thing. And also...

RP: How about flower arranging?

CH: We had another teacher come in from Elk Grove to do paper-making. And I'm afraid I didn't particularly care for that, that kind of thing. My mother did. Drags me, she drags me into these classes. [Laughs] She had a lot to say about what I'm doing.

RP: And how did you take to Japanese language school? You said it was challenging, but did you, was it an enriching experience for you, or just something you had to go through?

CH: Yes and no. I would say that because to tell you the truth, my mother used to make such beautiful lunches for us for Japanese class, we wouldn't miss it, so we went.

RP: What would she, what would be a typical lunch for Japanese school?

CH: Well, we had these rice balls and probably she would scramble the eggs and make it into little slices, you know, after you cooked it, and what else? Probably had some pickles, Japanese pickles.

RP: Tsukemono?

CH: Tsukemono, yeah. And can't remember, it was very good. Other than that, if we wanted sandwiches, we'd go to the store and they'd make sandwiches for us.

RP: Which store was that?

CH: Well, there was one called Ogata store, and then there was another one, Kato.

RP: Kato?

CH: Kato, yeah. They made sandwiches. There were other stores, but they didn't make sandwiches for us for Saturday.

RP: You just went on Saturdays?

CH: Uh-huh, yeah. Every day, every Saturday for all those years. It was very pleasant, regardless of what we learned.

<End Segment 9> - Copyright © 2008 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.