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RP: And a short time after that your mother took...

YS: My two brothers and sisters back to Japan. And then her mother raised them, my grandmother raised my two brothers, and after they graduated from middle school back there then she brought 'em back.

RP: And so do you remember when she would have taken them to Japan?

YS: Probably after I was born in '27. I really don't know when she took 'em back.

RP: And how long did they spend there?

YS: My oldest brother, he must have been eighteen, at the time he came back after he graduated middle school or high school. And my sister, about the same age. And my brother, my brother George must have been fifteen or so at the time. That's when my mother and I went back to Japan and brought my sister back. And then she was debating whether to let my brother George graduate. He was in the second year in middle school, but she decided just to bring him back. So it's sort of worked out good. Otherwise he would have been probably caught back there during Pearl Harbor.

RP: So you went with your mother when you were how old?

YS: Let's see, twelve. Yeah.

RP: And you spent a little bit of time in Japan.

YS: Just one year, just the one year, yeah.

RP: What was that like?

YS: Well, I went to, I went to the grammar school for, during that time I was over there. And it was out there in the country so we did all the things, you know, what kids would do. Either go hunting for birds or then like in the summertime we would spend all the time down in the river and the creeks... either fishing or spear fishing or, well, that's about it, yeah. Oh yeah, and fishing for eels, you know, river, river eels, yeah.

RP: How did the other kids accept you as a Japanese American?

YS: No, they didn't have any problem, yeah. I didn't have any problems gettin' friends with them.

RP: Did you have any difficulties language wise?

YS: Language wise? Well, no, not too much. Because back then we all, when I was home we'd all speak Japanese in the house. And then of course when we're outside we'd speak English. And, I learned how to talk like them back there, during that period, time in the year that I spent back there. In fact, it got to the point where it was a little bit difficult speaking English. I could understand it but the words wouldn't come out as easily. But, yeah, after coming back you just catch right on again.

RP: So being over there was an adventure? More of an adventure than anything else?

YS: Yeah. But we had a lot to do as kids, yeah. And of course there was hills all around, or like small mountains all around us so you... there's always something to do. And with the river just maybe about fifty yards from the house, so you either spend your time down at the river or, you know, during the summertime, or in the mountains either lookin' for... certain times of the year certain things would sprout out and my grandmother would... we'd go gather it so that she could cook the stuff you know. It would just grow wild. Or either pick berries or whatever, yeah.

RP: That was the first time that you got to see your brothers and sisters for quite a while.

YS: Yeah, that's right. And my grandmother and grandfather.

<End Segment 2> - Copyright © 2010 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.