When I first came to San Francisco State in ’59, I got an officemate who was one of the organizers of the faculty union. And, you know, I was sort of apolitical when I first came to State. I just wanted to…you know, it’s enough for me to be getting a job in a place where hardly any Japanese have been, except the ones that taught Japanese language and literature, you know? And so I thought I was making inroads then. But then my officemate began to hold union meetings in our office, and he said you better join. And I found it easier to join rather than to resist. So I became a charter member of the union. Then when the strikes started, the union went out, too, along with the students. So I was sort of automatically just socialized immediately along the way because of these kinds of things on the faculty side and on the student’s side. I was getting all of this kind of influence. And so in the… just automatically went on strike when the union decided to go on strike.
Date: January 7, 2004
Location: California, US
Interviewer: Art Hansen
Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum.
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