Interviews

1. Japanese school

2. Daily life in his childhood

3. Sugar-beets farm in Alberta

4. Chose to go back to Japan

5. Getting a job at the British Army camp in Hiroshima

6. Redress Movement in Canada

Ito,Mitsuo

(b.1924) Japanese Canadian Nisei. Interpreter for British Army in Japan after WWII. Active in Japanese Canadian community

Japanese school

Yes, we went to Japanese school every Saturday morning, about three, four hours Saturday morning.

I*: And what was that like, Japanese school? Who taught these classes?

Mr. and Mrs. Kudo taught Japanese. I think we just went there just to have fun, because we were told, the parents told us to go, so we just went. I don't think we learned very much.

I: What did you do when you were there?

Learned Japanese writing and speaking Japanese.

I: Yeah, that's what you were supposed to do, but what did you really do when you went? [Laughs]

[Laughs] Just to have fun.

* "I" indicates an interviewer (Mary Ito).

education Japanese language schools languages language schools

Date: March 23, 2005

Location: Toronto, Canada

Interviewer: Mary Ito

Contributed by: Sedai, the Japanese Canadian Legacy Project, Japanese Canadian Cultural Center

Interviewee Bio

Nisei male. Born August 20, 1924, in Mission, British Columbia, Canada. Grew up in Mission, attending school and helping on family farm. Left home to work several jobs, including in a sawmill and on a sugar beet farm. After World War II, moved to Japan, worked as an interpreter for the British Army, and got married. Moved to Toronto, Canada, in the 1950s and raised two sons. Active in Toronto's Japanese Canadian community, and is involved with charitable foundations. (March 23, 2005)

*The full interview is available Denshō: The Japanese American Legacy Project.