<Begin Segment 7>

TI: Let's talk about any, like, Japanese community events. Do you remember any events that happened before the war?

LI: There were some Japanese (school) picnics, and they called them undoukais and I guess the south side and the north side always, they weren't against each other, but we would play with one another to see if we could win. And like the rope pull...

TI: Tug of war?

LI: Tug of war, and then we would race. And there was a lot of food at that time because all the parents were there. So they called it undoukai.

TI: And so there was this kind of competition between the north and the south?

LI: That's right. And that was fun.

TI: And when you think of, so you were on the south side.

LI: South side, uh-huh.

TI: How would you describe the people from the north side? Were they different than the south side? I mean, how would you, what were the differences?

LI: I don't think there were any differences that I could tell, and I think we won, lost, won, lost, you know.

TI: But in terms of kind of a reputation, like was one side maybe a little rougher than the other side, or was it pretty much the same?

LI: I think they were about the same.

TI: So let's talk a little bit more about Shattuck school. When you were there, what... so going back to Shattuck school, tell me about your classmates. Was it, like, how many Japanese were in your class?

LI: Maybe five or six, the rest Caucasian. Chinese people were there also, and quite a few Jewish people. They lived up on the hill, and they were very kind people. And we were all good friends.

TI: Now during this time, was there discrimination, either against Japanese or against a Jew or Chinese? Did you feel...

LI: Not at that time. Little bit later, yeah. We were all good friends.

TI: Okay. Any other childhood memories? Before... we want to go to your visit to Japan, before I go there, any other childhood memories? Like did you guys ever take trips together, especially with your, not your cousins, but your aunt?

LI: No, we never went with them because they didn't have a car either. However, one family had a car, and we used to go... not as far as Mount Hood, maybe, Bonneville Dam or something. And we used to do some picnics with them also. So that was fun, and they had a girl a little older than I. And she would take me around and introduce me to quite a few of the other Japanese people. Because other than the picnics that we had, they were all Caucasian, basically.

TI: So up to this point, you had not really traveled that far away from Portland.

LI: That's right, or even, yeah, the city of Portland, sure.

<End Segment 7> - Copyright © 2013 Oregon Nikkei Endowment and Densho. All Rights Reserved.