<Begin Segment 4>

SG: Did you have time to play with the other kids while you were growing up?

GA: I didn't have much time. Another thing that entered into the picture during those days was that we had to go to Japanese language school three days out of the week, Monday, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and that school was usually from 4 to 6 o'clock, and so we'd have to go to that school and thereby denying us playing time with our friends. I really objected to that, but I couldn't do much about it. I had to go to Japanese school.

SG: Where was that located?

GA: Pardon me?

SG: Where was the Japanese school located?

GA: It was located roughly ten blocks away. So most of the time, we'd have to walk down and walk back.

SG: Now looking back, are you glad you went to Japanese school?

GA: Oh, yes, I do now. But, and I wished I studied more, but I didn't in those days.

SG: What kind of things did they make you learn in school?

GA: Of course, reading and writing, tried to teach us kanji, but it was very difficult for us to learn kanji. I think the teachers also used to try to teach us some customs, Japanese customs. I wish I had learned, been more serious about learning Japanese. It would have helped in later years.

SG: Were there other activities that you did at Japanese school, more social activities?

GA: Very little social activities in Japanese school. Once a year, they used to have picnics. That's all I remember as far as social activities were concerned.

SG: Did you form friendships with the other kids in Japanese school?

GA: Oh, yes, yes. Some of those friends are still living today, and once in a while, we recall the old days. We sort of belittled the Japanese schoolteacher which was not good, but we did. I think some of the students made her cry. These teachers were from Japan, so they would teach us Japanese customs in addition to language.

SG: Were they mostly women teachers?

GA: Mostly, yes.

SG: And they had just come back, and come here to teach and then go back to Japan?

GA: Well, I think they tried to stay in the United States if they could, but most of them, many of them did go back, yes.

SG: And do you remember some of the things you might have said to make the teacher cry or what the other kids --

GA: I don't remember. I don't remember that, but I know we were not good to the teachers. It was bad.

SG: And how long did you go to Japanese school?

GA: I don't remember how many years, but we started around when I was about eight, eight or nine years old, and I continued until I was in high school I think about first or second grade in high school. And then for some reason I discontinued. I can't remember why. It was way before the war started.

SG: Do you remember how much your parents had to pay for you to go to Japanese school?

GA: I don't remember, must not have been too much. There were roughly thirty or forty students in this school that I went to.

SG: Did you all study together in the same room?

GA: No, we had different rooms for different grade levels. School was an old house, so each grade had its own room.

SG: Is there anything else about Japanese school that you wanted to share?

GA: The biggest thing I remember is that we didn't want to go to Japanese school because they denied us playing time.

SG: Did you ever skip Japanese school?

GA: Did I skip? No. We attended faithfully as far as attendance was concerned. It was only three times a week, so it wasn't that bad, but bad enough.

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