We had Japanese school. After our public school we went to Japanese school, and I think this is where we learned -- for me, at least -- to be, to accept the values of life, too. We had a teacher. He was born in Kauai so he's, he's a Kibei -- born here, raised in Japan, and came back -- and he taught us Japanese language and we had ministers also. Our school was Hilo Hongwanji Mission School so we were sort of, the school was affiliated with the church so we had the ministers themselves teach Japanese to us. And never have I heard (them) saying that, "This is Japan. You learn about Japanese culture and everything," that, "You are a Japanese national." None of that, but they always taught us that, "You are a Japanese so grow up like a Japanese, (have) honesty and gimu, on, and all that.

TI: Wait. I don't know about that. Explain to me what those terms mean.

SK: Okay. Gimu is responsibility, on is loyalty, and all these things.

TI: And loyalty to your family or friends?

SK: Family. To the country, mainly, to the country, yes. And especially this teacher who was born in Kauai, he always stressed loyalty to your own country. So when the war broke out, oh, there's no question, "America is my country." So there were many stories about teachers from Japan teaching the traditions of Japan and you become more or less Japan Japanese, but as far as I know, our teachers always taught us to be real good Americans so this I appreciated very much.

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