<Begin Segment 1>

JT: Okay. We're interviewing, we're talking to Kenji Tomita, and we're in San Rafael, Marin County, California. And first thing I wanted to ask you, Kenji, is about your parents, your mother and father. Where were they, did they come from Japan?

KT: Yes. My father was from Aichi-ken and my mother was from Gifu-ken.

JT: Okay. And what did they do? What did your father do for a living in Japan?

KT: Well, I assume he just went to a business school, and he was... and then there was another Mr. Kako who was also in that business school. And he came to the United States first.

JT: Mr. Kako.

KT: Yeah. And he used to live in Alameda.

JT: Okay. And then did he tell your dad that it would be a good idea to come?

KT: I guess that was probably it, yeah.

JT: And what year was that, do you remember?

KT: Well, I don't know what year my father came to the United States, but it's probably somewhere between '19...

JT: Nineteen.

KT: Yeah.

JT: Was he married?

KT: No, not yet.

JT: Oh, okay.

MT: I think (your father came to the U.S.) around 1917, I would say, because I see some albums that he has that were from pictures in the United States around 1918.

JT: Oh, they came late then. What was your mom, or what was your father's name, and your mother's name?

KT: My father's name was Katsushige.

JT: Katsushige?

KT: Uh-huh. My mother's name was Haruno.

JT: Haruno, her first name? Haruno.

KT: Yeah.

JT: Were they married? Did you say they were married when they came?

KT: No. My father came to the United States first, and then he went back to Japan to get, bring a wife.

JT: Oh, okay. Do you know if it was an arranged marriage?

KT: I think so.

JT: It wasn't a picture, was it a "picture bride" marriage?

KT: No.

JT: No. Baishakunin?

<End Segment 1> - Copyright © 2021 Densho. All Rights Reserved.