(Japanese) After entering elementary school, I only attended for two or three months. Then, in the summer of that year, I went to Panama. I went when I was seven. As soon as I got there, my father took me to where the smallest children, kindergarteners, got together. It was a kindergarten where all the white children went.
When I came back to Japan, it was when I was in the third grade. So, in actuality, I was only in first grade for two or three months and I didn’t even go to second grade. I came back toward the end of third grade, so, for the most part, I don’t have a first or second grade education. So, if I’m ever asked my educational record, I have to take out those two years. It’s kind of a funny situation. And it’s because when I was seven, I was going to kindergarten with all the three and four year olds.
Date: January 26, 2012
Location: California, US
Interviewer: John Esaki, Yoko Nishimura
Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum
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