<Begin Segment 10>

AC: So looking back over your entire life experience --

KT: Pardon?

AC: Looking back over your entire life, what lessons have you learned about living in America?

KT: What I learned? Well, what I learned is just what we just talked about, pretty much.

AC: Have you reached any conclusions?

KT: Well, I would say there's no other country better than this country. I'm proud of it, to be the citizen of the United States, and I enjoyed my whole life as a citizen of the United States, my descendants were Japanese, that's fine, too. That's the way I feel about it.

AC: If your father were standing right here, he's listened to our entire conversation and he's heard about your success, your children, your grandchildren, what do you think he'd say?

KT: Oh, boy. Well, anyway, he used to come out here a lot, and he seemed to really enjoy it. And then he went back and told them that I was doing a great job of farming as well as many of the people that used to come hunting, they were Caucasian. And during hunting season, they'd go back and tell their businesspeople, the bankers and all, so I was known pretty well from the bankers' standpoint. And not only that, they put me up on a hell of a high credit rating. Even Dun & Bradstreet called me. You don't get on that, there's no more Dun & Bradstreet now, they used to use it. Not very many got on there. Not only that, if you don't have a good credit rating, you better not be on there. But when I was doing that, I didn't know that I had that kind of a credit. For some reason, they gave me that credit, so I was real proud of myself. I didn't tell every guy all the secrets, except the television man, he's getting every damn bit of it. [Laughs]

AC: What would your father say, though, if he were here?

KT: Huh?

AC: What would your father say if he were here?

KT: Oh, gosh, I don't know what he'd say. He'd probably be proud of it, he always was. He always enjoyed... he's a good farmer, so he always enjoyed the crops that were growing here. And this area was a very, probably one of the best growing areas in the country. 'Cause this agriculture, what the Japanese did was great. Not only me, but everybody. They were good farmers, they worked, most of them were real trustworthy, and most of the hakujins, they trusted us Japanese, so that was a great credit, not only me, but to everybody. And they all done well; they all raised their families, they all went to college, most of 'em. We got some real smart people, we've got engineers, we've got all kinds of kids, professionals. And the Japanese, they work at it. And not only this area, but I think throughout the country. They have quite a bit of pride in themselves. They're not just a bunch of braggers or anything, but I think there's something about Japanese. I'm proud of myself, but I'm over the hump now. [Laughs] So it's kind of embarrassing to be talking to you.

AC: Why?

KT: I don't know.

AC: We've talked about --

KT: Well, I don't hear, I don't see, and it's kind of a joke there, but I see the television fellow here.

AC: We've talked about all kinds of things.

KT: Yeah, I know we did.

AC: And is there anything that you want to talk about that we haven't talked about?

KT: Oh, I guess this is about it. I enjoyed visiting with you, and I wished I could have done a little better, but anyway, this is good.

AC: One last question. Again, looking back over your entire life, all your experiences, everything that's happened to you, what kind of advice would you give to your grandchildren and your great-grandchildren?

KT: Well, I don't know. I tell 'em that you got to work, you got to be honest, you got to learn, you got to listen and try to be something of yourself, try to acquire something or get something that you can be proud of yourself. You got to do it yourself; you can't just learn, you got to work at it. So we have four grandchildren here, they're all college graduates, and they're all doing pretty good. So my wife and I are real happy about the grandchildren. They all grew up here on the farm, they're all married and had nice families, married to nice families. One of 'em is married to Kameshige and it's fine, they're doing real good, and they're a real nice family. We're like neighbors, he was right down the line. So that's the way it's been going, and hopefully they all continue to be the same and trust each other and work together, and be very much compatible all the way around. That's about, Mister.

AC: Thank you so very much for taking the time to talk to us.

KT: Well, I hope I could have done a little better, but anyway...

AC: You did fine. Thank you so very much.

<End Segment 10> - Copyright © 2004 Oregon Nikkei Endowment and Densho. All Rights Reserved.