Densho Digital Archive - George Katagiri Interview (denshovh-kgeorge

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SG: Can you describe what your relationship was like with your parents growing up?

GK: It was an interesting one because I kind of look back at the Nisei generation, that's our second generation, and so our parents were Japanese-speaking immigrants from Japan, and so they knew Japanese, and their parents, their children that went to the public schools learned English very quickly. And because they learned English so quickly, this is the reason why most of the Japanese community started these Japanese schools so that they would be sure that their children would develop Japanese language skills at the same time. But so far as the parent generation and the Nisei generation are concerned, there was a communication barrier there. We could speak to each other and talk about well, how do you feel, what did you do today, and how are you and this kind of thing. But when it came to, well, what do you feel about Japan going to war with the United States, or how do you explain the operation of cylinder engine or anything technical, we never broached those kinds of subjects because neither generation had the vocabulary. And so our conversations were limited to kind of superficial things about our lives. And so I regard the Niseis as being kind of a transitional generation so far as from the old world to the new. And so there are a lot of things that I never knew about my parents because of that.

SG: Do you think it was difficult for your parents as well?

GK: Yeah. I think for the important things, we communicated well. They didn't have to tell me they loved me, you know. I knew they loved me, and I knew they would sacrifice anything for me and their concern with my health and things like that. And so a lot of things didn't have to be said, but, and a lot of things went unsaid, but they were understood. Like growing up, for example, they never told me you had to go to college, but I knew intuitively that my destiny was that I was going to some four-year university or college someplace whether I wanted to or not. And it was something that was communicated by some means, mostly from my mother. [Laughs]

SG: Did you, would you often help your parents out in terms of being the go-between for speaking or translating English?

GK: In those cases, my older sisters usually filled in that role, took that role. My older sister was three years older than I, and the second sister was two years older than I am. So whenever something like that was required, they stepped in. They were the liaison between whatever English they needed to understand.

SG: Did you ever have a chance to meet your grandparents?

GK: Yeah. When I was five, I met my grandmother, and I distinctly remember what she look like. And I also remember that she had a very cranky sister, and, but my grandfather had passed away by then because my father was the youngest of ten children. And so by the time I was born, I met people who were as old as my father who were my cousins rather than my uncles, and it was very confusing for me when I was over there. But I did meet my grandmother and some of her sisters and some of my father's cousins who were older than he was. It was very interesting.

SG: How do you think it might have affected you not having grown up with grandparents, you and maybe other Nisei kids?

GK: Well, not having grown up with them, I didn't miss them. Well, most Nisei kids did not grow up with their grandparents. Their parents were the immigrants that came to the United States, most of them between 1910 and 1930. And it was a rather strong point with the mothers that immigrated because many of them I'm sure immigrated because they knew that if they came to America, there would be no mother-in-laws, and it was a good motivation for them to come and because they did actually come to a very strange place, you know. I don't think they realized how hostile the environment could be. But so long as there were no mother-in-laws, it was motivation enough for them to say, "Sure, I'll go."

SG: What was the, your role of your mother and father in the household?

GK: In my household or in our household, I think my mother was the more dominant figure. She had more education. Most of the Issei men who immigrated may have finished high school, and then they immigrated to the United States. But a lot of the women had a chance to finish high school and take advance training in something. My mother went on and became a midwife, so she worked in the hospital for a couple of years. She served for two years in Manchuria before she immigrated to the United States. And besides, my father was working eight or ten hours a day, six days a week, and we seldom saw him, and we were with our mother most of the time. So she was the one who told us most of the stories and gave us most of the guidance during the growing up years.

SG: What kind of stories did your mom tell you?

GK: Oh, they told us stories of the brave samurai and stories of that type. Usually they had morals to it, and there's certain kinds of moral issues that they emphasized like don't lose, you know. If you try something, do your best and try not to lose. And if you meet with adversity, stick it out, and don't give up. And if there are things that you can't help, grin and bear it, shikata ga nai, and things of that type. Those things were instilled, I think, in most families on to the Nisei generations.

SG: Did your parents ever talk about their feelings about the United States and Japan?

GK: Well, of course the immigrant generation were not allowed to become nationalized citizens of the United States, and so they had no choice but to look to Japan as their homeland. And so I think like my parents, most of the Issei generation accepted Japan as their homeland, and they believed in the emperor, and there's no question in their mind that they had to stick with the emperor. They never tried to instill anything onto us. We did go to some of the community meetings, and you know, somebody got up and said banzai or Tennoheika, banzai. And we thought that was a fun thing to say and do, and so we jumped up and put up our hands and said, Tennoheika, banzai. We didn't know what we were saying, but that was the extent of it. If you asked us to sing the Star Spangled Banner, the Pledge of Allegiance, we can do that at the drop of a dime. And we heard the Japanese anthem quite often. But if you asked us what we were saying, we wouldn't have the slightest idea what the words meant. So it was, but it's funny. Like a few months ago, they were having the Little League World Series down in Florida. And so there was this little league Japanese team that came from Japan, and they were playing off with the Florida team, that's Team U.S.A. And here were these young kids playing baseball for the championship, and I find myself rooting for the Japan team. And I asked myself, well, how come you're doing that, you know. And my answer is, I don't know, but there's something about my legacy that I have sympathy towards things Japanese. Now if the U.S. team were playing Russia or something, I'd be rooting for the United States. But it was odd that I found myself rooting for the Japanese team, which won incidentally.