Discover Nikkei

https://www.discovernikkei.org/en/interviews/clips/507/

Father’s will to have Japanese education

I went through grade school up to grade 8 public school, and then from grade 9, 10 and 11, I went through Mission High School. And it was during, while I was in Mission High School grade 11 from September to, September to December. And in September of 1938 my father died. And my father, before he died, he told my mother, he says, "You take," me, my younger sister, my two younger sisters to Japan. He says, "Give 'em a Japanese education." He says, "Now, once you did that, they'd be on their own, so no problem." So based on that, my mother took me and, took me and my two sisters after Christmas, I think, or just before Christmas.


education

Date: October 29, 2005

Location: Toronto, Canada

Interviewer: Norm Ibuki

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

Interviewee Bio

William "Bill" Tasaburo Hashizume was born on June 22, 1922 at Mission, British Columbia where he spent his early years. In 1939, after his father passed away, Bill's mother took Bill and his two younger sisters to Osaka, Japan for schooling. After the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, Bill and his family were stranded in Japan. Hashizume resumed his studies and graduated from Kobe Technical College in 1944. Facing conscription, he enlisted in the Japanese Imperial Navy soon after and served as an Officer until demobilization in 1945.

After the war, Hashizume joined the U.S. military police in Japan, serving as an interpreter. As the Canadian government imposed a ban until the early 1950s on the return of Canadian citizens of Japanese descent who had been stranded in Japan after Pearl Harbor and those who had been repatriated to Japan in the late 1940s, Bill was not able to return to Canada. In 1952, Bill's Canadian citizenship was reinstated by the Canadian government and he returned to Toronto, Canada to join his sisters.

Hashizume became a full-fledged Canadian engineer at the age of 55. He was employed at the Ontario Department of Highways as an engineer and retired at 65. He has also researched and written a book on Japanese Canadian history of Mission, British Columbia. He currently leads an active and healthy life in Toronto, Canada. (August 23, 2006)

Ariyoshi,George

Teacher who helped with lisp

(b.1926) Democratic politician and three-term Governor of Hawai'i

Hirabayashi,James

Little interaction with parents

(1926 - 2012) Scholar and professor of anthropology. Leader in the establishment of ethnic studies as an academic discipline

Hirabayashi,James

Politics in ethnic studies

(1926 - 2012) Scholar and professor of anthropology. Leader in the establishment of ethnic studies as an academic discipline

Hirabayashi,James

Center for Japanese American Studies in community

(1926 - 2012) Scholar and professor of anthropology. Leader in the establishment of ethnic studies as an academic discipline

Hirabayashi,James

Involvement with ethnic studies

(1926 - 2012) Scholar and professor of anthropology. Leader in the establishment of ethnic studies as an academic discipline

Hirabayashi,James

Testing assumptions of Japanese scholars

(1926 - 2012) Scholar and professor of anthropology. Leader in the establishment of ethnic studies as an academic discipline

Kawakami,Barbara

Kids working hard

An expert researcher and scholar on Japanese immigrant clothing.

Kawakami,Barbara

First day of school

An expert researcher and scholar on Japanese immigrant clothing.

Okasaki,Robert (Bob) Kiyoshi

Grandmother's influence on decision to go to Japan

(b.1942) Japanese American ceramist, who has lived in Japan for over 30 years.

Yonamine,Wally Kaname

Training for football by carrying 100-lb bags of grass over mountains

(b.1925) Nisei of Okinawan descent. Had a 38-year career in Japan as a baseball player, coach, scout, and manager.

Kosaki,Richard

Teaching at the military language school during World War II

(b. 1924) Political scientist, educator, and administrator from Hawai`i

Kosaki,Richard

Lesson learned from community college faculty

(b. 1924) Political scientist, educator, and administrator from Hawai`i

Kosaki,Richard

Rewards of teaching

(b. 1924) Political scientist, educator, and administrator from Hawai`i

Ito,Mitsuo

Japanese school

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

Kadoguchi,Shizuko

Strict school policy of separating boys and girls in Japan

(b.1920) Japanese Canadian Nisei. Established the Ikenobo Ikebana Society of Toronto