<Begin Segment 5>

RP: What are some of your earliest memories of growing up? First in Santa Clara area as a kid.

TH: Santa Clara at that time was the Valley of Heart's Delight. Known for its pretty scenery in the spring when the fruit blossoms were in full bloom. And we lived in a community in my grade school years anyway, of mainly white people. And we were, I didn't feel any different.

RP: Did you have a Japanese American community in Santa Clara?

TH: Yes, we did. We went to the Buddhist church in San Jose, and of course we attended most of the community activities together. I would say it was fun years.

RP: And language school was a part of your upbringing?

TH: Yes, yes. We all attended Japanese language school. I don't think I put my heart and soul into it, but it's something we all did.

RP: And did you learn to read and write Japanese?

TH: Yes.

RP: And how far did you get?

TH: I hate to say. [Laughs] But anyway, we did not speak Japanese amongst the siblings, my father spoke to us in English.

RP: At home, too?

TH: Uh-huh.

RP: Where was language school located in Santa Clara?

TH: Where was language school located? We went to a language school nearby called Agnew Japanese Language School. And so it took in a community of about, oh, maybe a radius of about five miles or so, but Japanese farmers mainly, orchardists.

RP: And do you recall if your teachers were from Japan or were they folks, Isseis who had been in this country?

TH: Well, of course the Japanese teachers had to have their education in Japan, but we were fortunate in having a Japanese language teacher who was also attending local University of Santa Clara and so he spoke English, too. But of course he tried to teach us Japanese.

RP: Was the school kind of the core of social activities as well as to...

TH: Oh, yes. Our social activities, we had school races and school picnics. And because we went to our Japanese school after spending, what, (six) hours at our regular public schools, it was kind of a get-together session with our other Japanese friends.

RP: Do you know how the schools were financed? One gentleman yesterday was telling us that all the farmers would kick in a certain amount of money every month.

TH: Well, of course, yes. We had to pay the teacher's salary and give him housing.

RP: Was your father involved in community activities?

TH: Not really. He was very supportive of the Japanese language school we went to and even while we were in public school, my father attended all our open houses and was very supportive of us.

RP: How about holidays? Do you celebrate both American and Japanese?

TH: Yes we did. Yes we did. We celebrated, of course, Christmas and Easter and Thanksgiving and the American holidays, but we also celebrated New Year's especially in the Japanese, traditional Japanese style.

RP: Was Girl's Day a big day for you? Girl's Day? Was that celebrated?

TH: Yes. Girl's Day was big. We dressed in kimonos, played battledore and shuttlecock, ate pink mochi.

RP: That sounds like a great time.

TH: Yes, it was.

RP: Was there a Nihonmachi in the Santa Clara area?

TH: Not in Santa Clara. Nihonmachi was in San Jose, which is about, what, five, seven miles away? That was the hub of our activities with the Japanese community because the Japanese church was located there, Japantown, the tofu factory.

RP: How often would you visit that area?

TH: We went to Sunday school as children, so it was once a week for that. And, of course, for our parents it was... and I went to the movies, Japanese movies and activities at the church.

RP: You also took a number of trips to visit family and friends?

TH: Yes. Motor trips to, we had some relatives living in Monterey, we had friends in Petaluma, Belmont, Dinuba in the valley. So my father was good about taking us places. He took us to the circus, he took us to the zoo in San Francisco and across the Bay Bridge when it was first built, so we had a lot of fun experiences.

<End Segment 5> - Copyright © 2010 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.