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Takaezu - 1 - 23

Takaezu: Right. But she was working for the newspaper in Hawaii.

Q: That was her interest?

Takaezu: Right. She went to school in California. I told her that I think she should go to Japan with me. I said if I waited till I had enough money, we'll never have enough money. You need to have a certain amount of money. So she decided to quit her job and go with me.

And so we wanted to go to a Zen temple and she went along with me and she took tea ceremony for a while. We both did. We just wanted to live and have the experience of being in Japan.

Q: Could you understand everything that people were saying?

Takaezu: Not everything. No. No. We know Japanese, but not that well.

Q: But you knew enough to get by?

Takaezu: Oh, yes. Yes. Oh, yeah. We did. And when we went into the country, it was easier, because that's what my parents are, the country kind of language.

In Tokyo it's more difficult. Very sophisticated. Of course we all learned the one type of Japanese, which everybody knew,