<Begin Segment 2>

TI: So let's talk about your father next. Can you tell me his name and where in Japan he was from?

AH: His name was Sanji Yoshinaga, and he was born in Kumamoto.

TI: And do you know anything about his family, what they did?

AH: I think he was the second son, which meant that he would not inherit anything. And he was always scholarly. He wanted to pursue education. Apparently he was a math teacher in Japan, but... and I'm not sure when he converted or if the whole family had been Christians, but he came, actually, as I understand it from my older sister, he came to try to become a Christian minister here. So he wanted to go to a seminary, but, for I don't know what reason, economic or what, he was never able to do that. But he became active in the Christian church, especially at that time, the Baptist church. He was always reading and seeking spiritual information.

TI: Oh, that's interesting. You mentioned, sort of, half sisters. So was your father married in Japan and had children?

AH: He was married in Japan, and then his, that wife passed away, then he married my mother after the other wife passed away.

TI: And your mother, did he marry her in Japan or...

AH: In Japan.

TI: Okay, in Japan.

AH: That's right. That's why Frank and Aya and Ei were already, like, eight years, eleven years, fourteen years old when they came from Japan to California.

TI: Okay, so Frank, Aya and Ei were Japanese nationals.

AH: Yes, uh-huh, Japanese nationals. So the three of us were Nisei and the other three of us were Issei.

TI: Got it, okay. Good.

<End Segment 2> - Copyright © 2009 Densho. All Rights Reserved.