<Begin Segment 7>

HH: To what extent do you feel that your values, your daily practices of life have their roots in your Japaneseness?

CK: My Japaneseness?

HH: Yeah.

CK: I would say that because the Japanese school that we attended, that we were taught the history, the language and the culture. And like when we traveled in Japan, we would ask, or at least I did ask about the different temples or whatever, the stories behind them. And this one travel agent looked at me as he said, "Do you know about that? Why do you want to see that?" And I said, "This is what we had studied. I remember the pages in our textbooks, that's why I want to see this church," and he says, oh, and then other historical, these warriors, and they'll say, "You remember about this war?" I said, "Yes, we were taught that." I remember the songs and all. So it's not only that I think as far as the calligraphy that was one of my hobby, my dad helped me with that. But as far as the rest of the culture, Mother did the flower arranging, so it was, sort of taught us just watching her do it.

HH: Do you feel that things like shame sometimes weighed heavily on you?

CK: Not ever. Not ever, no shame whatsoever. I am proud to tell them, if anybody asked about my parents, I said, "While we were attending the Baptist Mission, my mother attended English classes there, and when she would come home and she would ask us to listen to her, and she would say, "The cow jumped over the hence." I said, "Mother, it's fence." "Hence, fence." I mean, scenes like that, you can't forget. And then Mother would stress the point, when she made angel food cake for PTA -- this is in grade school because my younger sister said, "Yes, my mother will bring it." She saved all those eggs to make the special angel food cake, and she said, "They didn't even thank me, they just said to put it there." She said, "How can anyone behave that when they realize how long it took to make, and how much eggs I had saved to walk all the way, over a month, to take it, and walked back again, and don't even say, 'Thank you.'" Said, "Don't you ever do anything like that." It's little traits that we picked up, that we didn't think, it was just part of us growing up. But you realize that after you grow up, that these are things they did pick up.

HH: As you think back, and you've mentioned quite a few already, but might there be another event experience that you remember that is memorable, that has some kind of significance for you?

CK: About what?

HH: Some kind of event that has particular significance for you? And you mentioned quite a few already, as a matter of fact. But maybe one back in Tacoma or maybe in St. Louis, that you will always remember.

CK: Well, as far as Tacoma goes, I felt that I had my training there. I learned to appreciate people. So from there, I had the basis, so when I went to St. Louis, I expected people to be friendly. I won't accept them otherwise, that it was no surprise. Camp was camp. In other words, I think I was old enough or easily identified enough that I wasn't homesick, were outside of the family, we worked, we do what we can, we learned our independence. But anything special, I would say there were so many different things that happened in St. Louis that said, "This is great. Nothing can go wrong."

HH: Thank you very much. You have a very different story.

CK: Well, thank you, Herb.

<End Segment 7> - Copyright © 1994 JACL Philadelphia. All Rights Reserved.