<Begin Segment 4>

MR: When you got old enough to go to school, where did you go?

YK: We walked to Joseph Kellogg school, it's on about sixty-eighth and Powell. And my sister right above me, Yaeko, she and I would go. And then when my younger brother, Mineo, and my sister Kazuko, we had to take them. And they would go along with us, and then all of a sudden they'd stop on somebody's lawn, and they'd say, "We're not going to go to school unless you give us a nickel." And we'd get so angry, but, you know, you played with them, and then they'd finally get up and they'd go, 'cause we had to take care of them to see that they got to school, too. And it wasn't bad, but when it rained, and in the winter it was cold, it was really, you wonder how kids don't walk like that nowadays. The bus comes by and picks you up. But we walked to school and if it was rainy after school, my dad would be there with the truck, and he'd call the neighborhood kids and us, bring us home. So if it's raining real hard we'd look for his car after school. And, you know, just sort of neat, 'cause then we didn't get all wet. We rarely had umbrellas with us. If they did, they broke right away.

MR: Can you talk about the school itself a little bit?

YK: It was a big school considering it's still standing, and they still use it. I remember it had two floors, and the rooms were huge. It's just day in, day out school. We had principal's... they wouldn't let you in the building. They had a new ruling, you couldn't come in 'til a certain hour. And if you got there early and it was cold, he made you wait outside. And I never liked him after that. [Laughs] I remember his name was Mr. Kiggins, to this day I thought that was sort of mean because so many of the parents maybe work, and we'd just wait outside, and it was cold. In the warm weather it doesn't matter, but rules and regulations, I guess they still exist. But that was one thing I remembered. It was sort of fun, though. They had the open houses and things like that. My folks, they would participate in... they have an open house, and she would send a cake that she made for PTA bake sale or something. And then they had a Japanese tea room which the Japanese in the neighborhood would set up. And the girls would wear Japanese kimono and serve tea, and that was sort of neat, a little different. And they did that as long as... I don't know how many years.

MR: Are there any teachers that you think back on and remember especially well?

YK: Well, there was a third grade... I remember my first grade teacher 'cause she was a little bit heavy, but she was so gentle and sweet, had white hair. I remember my third grade teacher 'cause she was real flashy dresser, and she was single. Her name was Miss Snook, and she was really, she'd come out to the place and buy flowers from my dad every so often. And the janitor was always hanging around in there, 'cause she was sort of attractive. I remember these little things. And then my eighth grade teacher, I remember she kept telling us stories. She read The Raven, and I'd look at the half of of the class was asleep, but she'd read a little bit every day. And do this day, it's still in my head, The Raven. And other than... and the gym teachers were great, and that was something I really looked forward to having gym, 'cause I liked physical education, and play in there, play prison ball, I guess they still play that. Softball out in the fields, and we'd line up and then go in partners or whatever and have to line up the shortest first and then go all the way up, so you're always in the same lineup unless someone shot up real fast. So it was, that was about it.

MR: Were there any organized activities for the children?

YK: Not really. Well, maybe in the spring they have the relay races, a track meet, I guess you'd call it, and have relay races. And it was just sort of an all-school thing, so it was, I remember running in a relay. And I don't know why this tall boy was in the next relay, on the other team, and everyone was laughing because I was so small and he was so tall. But we were racing, I guess, to get to the other side, and I remember that really clearly. But other than that, I don't remember too much about activities.

<End Segment 4> - Copyright © 2003 Oregon Nikkei Endowment and Densho. All Rights Reserved.