|
Was there trouble transitioning from middle school to high
school?
No, not from the Elliot School. It was quite cool in those days. I even
put on a Japanese show in the eighth grade. I made cherry blossoms and had
to sing Japanese songs. I was the director, producer—not at this particular
school, another school—and I was on the basketball team.
Was
the high school a lot bigger than your grammar school?
Yes,
I went to Franklin High School in Seattle, which was
way out in Baker Hill, Mt. Baker. Anyone here familiar with Seattle?
Well it's still standing, Franklin High School.
It's still a school?
Yes, I thought they would tear it down. There
was a movement there. But I wanted to go to that particular school,
instead of going to Renton High School, so I had to take a bus, and
it took
me one hour to get to that school. I had to walk to the bus, which
was another one mile or so. But I was determined to go to a nice city school.
What
did you like about this school?
Oh, I don't know. They had sports and it was huge. Different from Renton High School. Besides, at Renton High school my friend was the valedictorian
and I didn't want to have to follow in her footsteps.
Were
there a lot of Japanese at the school?
At Franklin High School? Not from where I was from. See I came from the
South End, so there weren't any. Most of them came from the North End, from the city, and so I didn't have any contact with them.
What was the play that you directed like?
The Japanese Play?
It was the whole thing. We did a little bit of Odori and sang Japanese
songs and things like that.
Who did you do it with?
I directed it myself and I gathered some people up.
Were
they all Japanese?
Yeah. I think there were only two or three of us, but it's amazing
how many roles one can take on.
What
made you want to do this?
I don't know. They asked me to, as a matter of fact. They wanted to
keep me busy because I was a rebel.
Where
did you perform the play?
At
the school. At Bryn Mawr school. This was more or less eighth grade.
They didn't know what to do with me because I was way advanced. The interesting
thing was I went to an all Japanese school in the country where the competition
was so stiff.
Was it all Japanese?
Not Japanese, but mainly Japanese.
Was it elementary School?
Yes, elementary school. I then changed over to Bryn Mawr school where it wasn't so competitive.
Then the school didn't know what to do with me because I was so used
to competing with the other advanced students.
In what way were you a rebel in high School?
How so?
I would challenge the teacher all the time. Like, "I
think that fraction is wrong." "I think that wording is wrong." "I
think your grammatical structure is wrong." We had to diagram everything
in the olden days. The subject, adverb, and all that stuff.
In English?
Yes. Do they still
do that? Do you still diagram?
Not here.
Public schools?
Oh I see.
Do
you remember a specific incident when you were arguing with a teacher?
It was usually in math class. I said, "You're teaching them all wrong."
Were
you right?
Of course, I mean, sure, I was right.
I
think your grandson does that a little bit too.
Oh
my goodness, it's my genes! I hear that all the time.
Do you have a particular teacher that you argued
with frequently?
In this K through 8
school, the teacher was always selected by Mrs. Elliott. We called her
"Grandma Elliott" and she lived on top of the hill in a four
story house—it was white and on top of the hill. Anyway, the teacher
always lived with her. The one she selected, this
is the only teacher's name I remember. Her name was Mrs. Beesucker.
She was huge and she used to tuck her handkerchief
in between her breasts and she would whip it out and we used to imitate
her all day. She would have an opera singer come once
a week to expose us to opera and her name was Mrs. Cavanaugh. That's another
one I remember. Oh, I hated it when she came because she would have
her little pinky out with her little handkerchief and she'd go "oh
oh oh oh". Oh goodness, I'd rather go out and play. Anyway, Mrs.
Beesucker was really tough. Really tough, and I didn't like her. If I was out of hand, in those days you could hit the hand with a ruler. Or I'd sit in the corner with a dunce
cap. It was okay with me; that's the way it was. Anyway,
she is the only name that I remember, and to this day I am thankful that
she was so engrossed in our learning something. She wanted to gather
all of us together about ten years ago. Low and behold, before I could
get up there, she passed away. I wanted to thank her and also
apologize.
Do you consider her your favorite teacher?
Yes,
because I remember her name and we always talk about her when I get
together with my friend in Seattle. "Remember Mrs. Beesucker?"
How
often do you visit Seattle?
Lately I have been going every year. Because we—I had to say this—but we don't have much time left—at eighty-two and eighty-seven.
Where were you and what did you feel when you heard about
the bombings of Pearl Harbor?
Oh! That really
frightened me. I thought "What are we going to do?" "What's
going to happen to us?" Then a lot of families came to our house, Japanese families. They got together and said "I wonder what's going to happen
to us?" "What are we going to do?" The FBI was there that
night, so they must have had some inkling where we lived and had kept
tabs. They must have had a database, even during those days, because they were
there that evening.
What did they do?
They just went through
the house. But by that time, my mother had destroyed a lot of the emperor's
pictures and Japanese items.
Can
you tell us as much as you remember from that day and night?
Well,
it was unbelievable. I just couldn't believe that this happened. Although
I did hear rumors
from a Russian fellow. He said, "No, don't
invest any money because there is going to be a war between Japan and
the United States." This was about six months before. Also my mother's cousin
was a Japanese rep for a silk company in New York. He left about
six months before the war broke out. He said, "There is going to be
a war. They are calling him back to Japan." I guess it was brewing
and we as youngsters just didn't think anything about it until it happened.
What can you remember about the FBI coming into you home?
Telephone
system. They said, "Well, they're around.
They're coming." We were warned by other families.
Did
they take anything from your house?
No. I can see why they came to our house because my mother's family
in Japan are naval people. The training ship used to come once or
twice a year and someone, a relative, would be on the training vessel
and we used to go visit the vessel. Do they still do that? They have
training vessels come? The naval?
Did
you actually see them when they came into the house?
Yes.
How
did that make you feel?
I
don't know, I was just frightened. I thought, "What's going happen
to us?" "What are they going to do? Take us away?"
How
old were you?
I think at that time I was eighteen or close to nineteen.
Were you planning on going to college?
I was going to go to the University of Washington, but we put
everything on hold because I think my parents thought that something
was brewing. I skipped twice so I was out of high school early and
so I was socially not fit. I don't know what year I graduated
even so I don't have a class reunion even because socially you are
not up to your classmates.
Can you tell us more about you mother destroying pictures?
I think we had an emperor's picture up on the wall. I think
she took that down and destroyed it. I think that's about the only
thing we had. Of course, later on we had to turn in all dangerous items
like
cameras and short-wave radios. I had a 22 rifle—I had to turn that
in. I never reclaimed them because after all these years, there
was a little slip—one inch by half an inch—and I don't know where
it went. It ended up in Washington D.C. CPC, which is Civilian Property
Custodian, but I never retrieved my items.
What did you have the gun for?
I loved to shoot cans. We were out in the country. Not for hunting.
Not
for protective reasons?
No, I thought it was kind of cool to shoot
a 22. I was sort of a tom-boy. My father—my adopted parents—always wanted
a boy, and so he kind of trained me in sawing wood and hitting nails.
I can do anything. I can climb a tree, saw branches. I can change tires.
|
