[Correct spelling of certain names, words and terms used in this interview have not been verified.]
<Begin Segment 9>
HH: All right, the last question I have is, to what extent do you feel that your values, your appreciation of art, food, religion, other ways of living life, has been influenced by your Japanese roots?
NH: I guess the way we were brought up is the respect that you have for your elders and that type of thing. And you always want to educate yourself. My father was like that, he's always trying to instill any of that, do a lot of reading, and he was a guy that, with a lot of dictionary, and he had to increase his vocabulary, and that kind of thing rubs off on you. I really think it speaks to the upbringing of your parents, the way you were brought up. And if you lacked that kind of thing, then you miss out on a lot of things.
HH: That concludes the questions I have, but at this point, can you think of any event, any experience that might, marks the kind of turning point something that has been a significant event in your life that should be mentioned, that made a difference in your life?
NH: Made a difference in my life? The one thing that really sticks in my mind is the type of world we live in now is, to me, it's really violent. There's always some kind of a war going on. And you don't really realize what kind of impact this will have on you until I had this experience in in Japan when I was there for that year. And during that year, the Japanese government had confirmed that my uncle, which is my father's brother, had been killed in the battle on Saipan. And at that time, the family said, well, we're going to have a memorial service, and I went. And it's too bad that he was on the one side, and that was on this side, and I was in my GI uniform going to a Japanese soldier's memorial service. And to avoid that kind of thing, it's too bad the war brought this on. And if human, mankind can't get together, this kind of thing is going to keep repeating and repeating and become miserable. I don't know how to answer that. But that has little impact on how I look at the world now. So if you could live a better, peaceful life, then you'll be better.
HH: Thank you very much.
NH: You're welcome.
<End Segment 9> - Copyright © 1994 JACL Philadelphia. All Rights Reserved.