Densho Digital Repository - Kiyoko Masuda Interview (Densho ID: ddr-ajah-1-1)

<Begin Segment 5>

JF: So Kiyo, I love the story about your family, especially your mother and father. And I know that your father had dreams for himself as a young person. So can you talk a little bit about how he felt not being able to fulfill that dream and what they were?

KM: Yes, of course. Well, as I had said earlier, my dad did go to school. He did want to go to UC Berkeley, to be a white collar worker. And, of course, those dreams were all dashed because he couldn't have, he didn't have the money anymore. And he was like an orphan, actually. He had gone to school and he had learned English and he went to, he tried to get as much of the education as he could, but he was not able to. And then the war started, and this was... let's see, that was 1940, and he was still a gardener, but he still was hoping that he could, you know, when he came back, he was able to... it's difficult to say.

JF: Well, you... excuse me for interrupting, but you talked about his love of history and that really struck me.

KM: Oh, I see, yes. Yes, of course.

JC: Can you tell me a little bit about that?

KM: Of course. He was not into sports and things, or gambling, as I had said. And he always had a love of history. And to go back just a bit, when the war started, and we had to evacuate, my mom said that they had to burn a lot of things. And besides the Japanese dolls and things like that, she said they burned all of his books, he had lots and lots of books on the history books and things because he loved history. And they also burned his violin. I didn't realize that he played the violin. And so, after the war, they came back, and they settled in the house, he started reading more again. He was always reading. And my sister Carol, when she was little, she was born in 1949, so she was ten years younger than me. She said when she was home, and she and Papa would have oyatsu, snack, at three o'clock every day. And so she said he would tell her all of these history things. She said she learned all about the Civil War and General Lee, that he was a good leader. And she says it was not only Japanese history, but so much more. In fact, Carol, when she went to Berkeley, she was a history major. So I think maybe my dad had some influence on that. And I know, when he became older, he did say that he did not fulfill all of his dreams, but he was satisfied, happy that his family, he had a good family. There was some sadness in his life, a lot of sadness in his life. But that was most important, that his kids turned out with a good life.