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TI: And tell me about school. What was school like at Minidoka?

YK: School was... well, it seems to me a lot easier, because it didn't have that kind of discipline that you would normally have. And they were teaching, I think... as I think back about it, is not as great as you would have in a regular academic school. I don't think they got the best teachers. And I can see why. Who would want to go out there in the middle of the desert and teach? So they got whatever they can get, and that was good enough. 'Cause we're out there in the middle of nowhere anyhow.

TI: So you mentioned, so it sounded like school was pretty easy for you, or not that rigorous. And so my notes say that you graduated pretty early. Weren't you only...

YK: I got out in three years.

TI: So you were about sixteen years old?

YK: Yeah.

TI: Was that common for other Niseis to go through so quickly?

YK: No, not really, because what happened was I had enough credit in three years to graduate. I don't remember how many credits I had to have, but I had enough so I could graduate in three years instead of four. So I didn't have to worry about where I was going my senior year, and that was a good thing.

TI: But then after you graduated in three years, what did you do? Because you didn't stay in Minidoka, you actually left.

YK: Yeah. In fact, I graduated June, and I think in July I went to school. I went to... summer semester, I went summer, winter, and spring, three semesters.

TI: And this is in Michigan that you went to?

YK: Western Michigan, Kalamazoo.

TI: So how did that come about? I mean, was there like an advisor or someone who set this all up for you? Because you graduated in June early, and then next month you're already in college. How did that happen?

YK: I don't know. [Laughs]

TI: So was there, someone, a teacher or somebody must have figured this out.

YK: Well, the advisor said that I can graduate if I want to, so what I did was, I guess I must have looked up all the different schools I could go to. And I remember I didn't want to go to a big school, so I ended up going to Western Michigan which is a small school. And it's not a big city either. So I didn't want go get wrapped up in a big city where things would probably go too fast. I just wanted to take it easy.

TI: So what was it like for you? Sixteen years old, you're on your own, you'd just left camp, so what was it like for you to be at Kalamazoo?

YK: Well, I don't know. I think it was pretty interesting. In fact, I was all set to do anything. I think most of my thinking was pretty positive back then. I went to school, I went to register, and I got, they gave me a scholarship when I got out of high school. And when I went to college, they didn't have it. So I think eventually that I got the scholarship. But at the beginning I think I had to pay my own way. So it wasn't a real setback. I don't remember how I got the place to stay. I didn't stay in the dorm, I stayed in a house run by a lady that she had three school tenants. Two blocks away, there was a Japanese family, I can't remember their name anymore. They were helpful in telling me about things.

TI: Now this Japanese family, were they, did they resettle from the camp? Do you remember which camp they were from?

YK: Seems to me they were from California, one of the California camps. And they were in, they were there probably at least a half a year or a year maybe, but they lived in the house. I remember they had, their family with two girls and a boy, I think. I can't remember too much about it. I didn't see 'em that often, but I ended up... oh, I got a job in the kitchen doing part-time job at the school. That helped my income a little bit.

TI: And you mentioned that you were there for summer, fall and spring quarter, so kind of like one year. And then you would return to, I guess, Portland?

YK: Portland.

TI: So why only one year? Why didn't you stay there longer?

YK: I guess I got homesick. I kind of got tired of school being on my own.

TI: Well, and plus, I guess Portland was open, too, you could go back to Portland rather the camp.

YK: Yeah.

TI: So when you returned to Portland, where were your parents staying? What were they doing?

YK: They had a small hotel on the east end of Hawthorne Bridge. It wasn't a very big one, but it was enough for an income. And I think they moved in about September, October, maybe even November of the year before. I came back here in March. My father ran the hotel, my mother worked at the Foster Hotel as a housemaid. Back in those days, didn't think anything about walking. I came home, I think, got off at the train at the railroad station, and walked over to see my mother at Foster Hotel, and then walked to my father's hotel, had two suitcases. And I was able to do all that walking. Back in those days, walking was...

TI: With suitcases.

YK: Yeah. Pretty standard.

<End Segment 15> - Copyright © 2013 Oregon Nikkei Endowment and Densho. All Rights Reserved.