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From about thattime, in thelate 1950s,the attitudes ofthe people from Japan changed-they no longer seemed to be self-conscious about Japan's defeat in the Pacific War. This heartened me, for I took it as an indication that the chaotic and unsettled post-war period in Japan was now a thing ofthe past. One ofthe visitors from Japan whom I still recall vividly is a Mr. Ogawa. A graduate of Tokyo Shogyo University, Ogawa was employed by the Daido Corporation and was sent to represent his company in Chicago because of his language abilities. Although he had good command of English, Mr. Ogawa still felt that there were problems with his understanding and use ofspoken English. He quickly acquired a small transistor radio to improve his understanding of spoken English and, at night, began attending English language courses that were offered to new immigrants. Together with young immigrants from Europe, he began practicing English conversation and written composition. I went with Mr. Ogawa to the evening English classes but could not match his fervor. His abilities in the language rapidly improved and he also worked hard to become accustomed toAmerican attitudes and ways ofthinking so that he could better carry out his duties as a representative ofhis company. Undoubtedly, he is now active in the top management levels ofthe Daido Corporation. From about thebeginningofthe 1960s,wesawnotonlyemployees of large Japanese corporations but also professors from Japanese universities who came to do research in Chicago. The professors, who seemed to replace each other at the beginning of every school year, had different areas ofspecialization, but they all had words ofpraise and admiration for the research facilities in the U.S. and educational and research conditions in the U.S. We learned much from our associations and conversations with those professors. I expect that many ofthem are now leaders in Japan and internationally famous in their specific areas ofresearch. Our relationship with those business people and professors was simply that of landlord and tenant; but they all visited our family freely and, while relaxing perhaps over glasses ofbeer, often stayed late into the night to converse with us. Even today, after 20 years, a numberofthem still send greetingcards during the holiday season to maintain ties. Poor Foreign Students Our apartments also housed students from Japan, Korea, Tai22S -ffiGASHIDE wan, Iran, South America and even Hawaii. Differing from the employees of large corporations and the professors from Japan, almost all ofthe students were poor, struggling to acquire an educa· tion. Most held part-timejobs while continuing their schooling. Since I had also experienced being a struggling, destitute student in my youth, I rented rooms to such students at a 20 to 30 percent discount. One studentwhom I cannot forget is the Rev. PaulYamasaki, who had come over from Japan in the late 1950s to study at a seminary in Kentucky. Every year, when his school went on summer vacation, Reverend Yamasaki would come to Chicago and stay for two months in one ofourapartments while he worked to earn school expenses. He would arrange earlier to reserve the apartment and, on precisely the day school ended for him, would start out to Chicago with his wife in their battered, old car. Early the next morning they would reach Chicago and from that very morning he would go out to work at a job for which he earlier had made arrangements. He did not waste even a day before going to work. I had to lower my head in admiration at his complete willingness to work to reach is goals. He usually found twojobs and from the day he reached Chicago would work at both from early morning and into the night. He was receiving no support from his family in Japan, it seemed, and during his two months in Chicagohad to earn mostofhis school expenses. Reverend Yamasaki eventually completed his studies and graduated from the seminary. He returned to Japan, where he received an appointment with the Nihonbashi Church in Osaka. In a letter we received some time after he returned to Japan, he wrote, "We have been blessed with a child and the church we have longed for has been built.» I was much impressed by a photograph he enclosed of his newly built church. Soon after Reverend Yamasaki returned to Japan, another foreign studentcame to stay with us from the seminary in Kentucky. We had been asked by the Reverend Kuzuhara ofthe LakesideJapanese Christian Church to take in a Reverend Kim...

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