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LT: Let's go back to your early life, because your mom and your dad were second generation Japanese Americans, they were Nisei. Many Nisei lived in Japanese American communities. They chose to have a store and to live in a white community in northeast Portland.
TT: Dad and Mom -- and I've heard them say this over and over -- "If you're going to be in the United States of America, and if you're going to succeed, you need to be able to get along with the majority. You need to be aware of and gentle to the minority, and always respect who people are. But where you need to be is where the people are." And so I know all of, a lot of our relatives did live in the Japanese communities, but it was never something they ever thought about. So when I went to Madison High School, and it was huge, there were two other Japanese families and two Chinese families and no other people of color. It was truly a white community. And I have to admit, my most uncomfortable time was the first time I took my dad to the Buddhist church and everyone was Japanese. [Laughs] It was like the first time I wasn't in the minority, and you lose your identity. Because suddenly you all look the same, you know. And I looked around and I couldn't tell the difference with anyone. And it was a very funny thing, but I know that, yeah, they chose this on purpose because they wanted our comfort level to be that we can go out in the world and do anything we want.
LT: When you were a young child, do you remember situations where people treated you unkindly or neighbors made comments because you were different?
TT: I don't. In fact, I don't know if I'm just dense. I did have one incident when I was a third-grader that someone called me a "Jap." I didn't know what it was, but it sounded bad, and I did punch him in the nose. And when I got home and told my dad about it, he said not to worry about it, "It's 'Japanese American Princess,' but it's rude for anyone who's not Japanese to call you a Jap." So then after that it never bothered me, but then, it never happened again, either. Yeah, and I liked the idea of a "Japanese American Princess," but we only call it among ourselves as Japanese people. And I bought it and went on my merry way. But I've never had that. But the other day I was talking to my older sister and she says, "Don't you remember there was a lady" -- and I won't mention her name, but she was so mean -- "that lived across the street from us." And she would come out, of course, luckily, she was big and she was fat and I knew she was stupid, and she would get out and scream at everyone when they'd even touch property. This was before, there was not a sidewalk there. And Sylvia says, "Well, you know, didn't the folks tell you not to walk in her yard?" And I said, "Well, yeah," and she said, "Well, it's because we're Japanese." And I looked at my sister and said, "It was because we're Japanese?" And she said, "Yeah," and this was just two days ago. And she said, "Yeah, what did you think?" I said, "I just thought she was this mean, smelly old woman who hated kids." Because it wasn't just us she yelled at, she yelled at all the neighbor kids. But I guess that it was because Dad and Mom had told us not to step on their property, and I don't know what part I missed, but my sister heard it very clearly, is it was because we were Japanese. So I don't know if I'm dense and maybe don't see that part, I don't know, maybe I've lost out. But I've never had any kind of what I call bigotry come my way, no.
<End Segment 5> - Copyright © 2014 Oregon Nikkei Endowment and Densho. All Rights Reserved.