<Begin Segment 5>

SG: So you would go to school, when you were young, you'd go to school and then come back. Tell me more about what your day was like when you were a child.

JO: Well, we had to go to school. We had to come home. We had to work right away. Those days, that's why I say we Nisei had to work just like the Issei did. So, otherwise, it's a regular hard work routine every day.

SG: How late would you work 'til?

JO: Work 'til late, sun up and sun down. Of course, when we got to Gresham, the bus, they had school bus too, so we didn't have to walk. I did when I was going to Russellville School over here in Portland, so --

SG: What was it like going to school here in Portland?

JO: What, Portland?

SG: Yeah. What was it like going to Russellville School?

JO: Well, we just start school. I remember I was only about six or seven when they, Grandpa came over and took my oldest brother and oldest sister to Japan, and that's about all I can remember. I don't, I must have been pretty young because I kind of remember time or two, teacher was carrying me around, you know. I wasn't in diapers going to school, but --

SG: Were there other Japanese kids at that school also?

JO: I believe there was. I remember like Mr. Bob Oga. He kind of died a little early. But his wife Chiz Oga, she just passed away just a few years ago, I guess. Then I, as far as others, they had Japanese school in Montavilla there. That's after moving to Gresham. I played baseball with, I don't know what they call that baseball, Mount Fuji baseball team, or, all the boys from Gresham area played in that. They all, like Kato brothers, they had five brothers; they all gone, Takeuchi brothers. So I played baseball for a while. And then I started my judo in Montavilla School there when I was around eight year old, and then I stuck with judo after that. Then I done a little bit of kendo for a while too. And I had to quit kendo because I couldn't keep up kendo and judo. So after ten year or so, I, with a family, I had to quit kendo, and I kept on doing judo.

SG: How often did you go to Japanese school?

JO: Early, the Japanese school was twice a week, and then I would go to judo twice a week. And that was when I was living in Montavilla there.

SG: What was it like going to Japanese school for you?

JO: Well, just try to, a class there, and I remember the Fukuda's name, Fukuda-sensei, teacher, and his wife, and Mr. Nakata-sensei. He was a dentist here. Of course, he passed away already too. And he's the one that started me doing judo, and I kept on doing judo after that which is, I'm still doing judo now. I kind of supervise it now. But I was, after marriage, I was involved in, after the war, the local tournament, national tournament. I've been a national referee, and now I'm a national coach. So I'm still kind of dedicated to judo, I guess.

SG: I'm going to ask you a couple more questions about Japanese school. Did you like going to Japanese school?

JO: Yeah. I was going Japanese school, but the thing is, living here in the States, you don't continue using Japanese school. Then when the war broke out, why there was no more Japanese school, none in Portland or anyplace. And I got to learn a lot of way of speaking, and then kanjis and all, but you never kept it up. So after the war, a lot of thing have changed. I wanted to keep up the culture and everything, but it was hard to do that. But I kept the judo up. So that's what I teach in judo is a lot to do with the discipline and the way, the culture and everything. That's my interest in judo.

SG: Did you speak Japanese with your parents?

JO: Yes. Well, we as Nisei, a lot of them had to speak Japanese because my mother never spoke English. So that's why we spoke, Nisei people will speak Japanese, most of us.

SG: And how about with your brothers and sisters?

JO: Well, among the brother and sister, we speak English. Of course, my sister never come back, so I have to speak Japanese to her because she doesn't know how to speak, she forgot all the English after going to school here maybe, she was thirteen, so she must have been at least around fifth or sixth grade. But when I went to see her after fifty-eight years, why, she never spoke Japanese, I mean, English no more. So she was hard to, of course, I had to speak Japanese when I visit her in Japan.

SG: What school did you go to in Gresham?

JO: I went to Gresham grade school, and then I had to work after that. The grade school is still there, and that's why I went to work in California and Longview and help my brother, my mother.

SG: What was it like for you? Did you, what was the experience like going to a school and being Japanese American?

JO: School, well, we just learn Japanese. Before the war, it didn't really affect, like after the war, that war made things a lot different. You know, I come back from war, looking for place to stay, stay to live, because we have, we were moved out of West Coast. So it was really disgusting when somebody goes and knock on the door, they slam the door on you. Even to live over here, it was really a hardship.

SG: Did you face that type of prejudice and discrimination when you were growing up here?

JO: No. I didn't feel it before the war, but no. The war changed a lot of feelings. I didn't feel too much. But that was, since I was born and raised here, why naturally, I believed in fighting for U.S. and that's what I did. It didn't seem to bother me too much.

<End Segment 5> - Copyright © 2003 Oregon Nikkei Endowment and Densho. All Rights Reserved.