<Begin Segment 14>

MK: The war ended in 1945, and you came back to Oregon. Did you experience any harassment?

CE: No. no. Not at all.

MK: You found your farm managed by Filipinos when you came home.

CE: Filipino people were running the farm, and it went on sale. They decided to leave, and it became available to purchase. It was a small farm, but that was okay with us. We bought the farm.

MK: Japanese people were not allowed to purchase land, were they?

CE: In the past, but it was allowed then. We have children...

MK: Your children have American citizenship.

CE: Yes.

MK: You didn't.

CE: No. Our children bought the farm. They all, including the one who lived in New York, were working. Kazuko had a job after she graduated form a business college. And Masako, Tokuko and Kei. Masako went to Oregon State University right after.

MK: Did she go there to study?

CE: Yes.

MK: Was it in 1945?

CE: 1945... She received a scholarship from the Oregon State University.

MK: Did Masako become a teacher right after she graduated from Oregon State University?

CE: Yes. It was hard to become a teacher in those days, but she did. She became a high school teacher in Jobs, close to Salem.

MK: What did she teach?

CE: I think she was a P.E. teacher.

MK: Do you know what year she became a teacher?

CE: I'm not sure what year.

MK: She graduated from Oregon State University.

CE: She became a teacher right after she graduated...

MK: Could it be around 1949?

CE: 1940... 40... No, no. It was in 1955. She was working as a teacher when we went to Japan in 1955.

MK: I heard about discrimination against Japanese people, but you didn't experience any...

CE: Not at all. We didn't feel discriminated. [Laughs] Milwaukie is such a nice place.

MK: That is great. We are going back a bit, but you have six children. Did you speak Japanese at home?

CE: Yes.

MK: What happened when they started to go to school?

CE: They spoke English. That was my turn to go to school and learn English. [Laughs]

MK: Did your children tell you to study hard?

CE: No, no. They didn't. [Laughs]

MK: Do your children speak Japanese when they come home?

CE: Yes, in Japanese. They speak Japanese. [Laughs] Tokuko's family lives far away, but she does not forget Japanese. I don't have any problems talking to her.

MK: Did your children go to a Japanese school?

CE: Yes, they did. No. no... just for a short while.

MK: It was closed because of the war.

CE: It was. My husband also told me that the children would not learn a lot at a Japanese school in the States. He was planning to send them over to Japan to be educated when they were older and have them back to the States again. We had to support the Japanese school though, because the building was very close to our house in Milwaukie. We had to make a contribution like everyone else when they were asking for donations for a new building.

<End Segment 14> - Copyright © 2003 Oregon Nikkei Endowment and Densho. All Rights Reserved.