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JT: We were talking about your parents. They were married in Japan and then they came here. Where did they come? Where did they land when they came here?

KT: They just landed... they didn't go to one of these camps, I guess.

JT: Did they come to San Francisco?

KT: Yeah.

JT: Oh, and did they live there for a while?

KT: No. Well, just probably about one year or so.

JT: And did Mr. Kako live in Alameda?

KT: Yeah.

JT: Oh, okay. Where did they live when they came to Alameda?

KT: The Kakos or my folks?

JT: Well, first let's go to the Takos, or Kako.

KT: Oh, okay. They lived on Peru Street.

JT: What did he do for a living? What did Mr. Kako do for a living?

KT: He was a wholesale food distributor.

JT: Oh, okay. And what about your dad? What did he do?

KT: Well, he was partners with Mr. Kako.

JT: Oh, they both... because he called him over and they came together. And where did your dad live? Where did your family live in Alameda?

KT: I really don't know where my father lived when he was single, but after he brought his wife over, well, they landed in San Francisco, and I think they lived there about, maybe one year or a little bit more or less.

MT: But you were born in Alameda.

JT: Well, maybe since Mr. Kako lived on Peru, Peru's on the Gold Coast. Did you live around the church?

KT: Yeah.

MT: Well, you lived in Eagle.

JT: Was your dad, were your parents Christian?

KT: Not really. [Laughs]

JT: I mean, what church... did they attend church?

KT: I don't think so.

JT: How did you end up at Buena Vista?

KT: Well, my mother, number one, we lived in Eagle Avenue.

JT: Oh, right around the corner.

KT: Right. And my mother felt like, well, here we're in the United States and the church is very convenient, just around the corner.

JT: Yeah, you could probably cut through the fence and be there. Okay.

KT: Yeah. And she said, well, she felt that maybe since we're in the United States now, that maybe it'd just be good to send the kids --

JT: Children, right.

KT: -- to church.

JT: Right. And so were you the oldest?

KT: No, my brother is the oldest.

JT: And how old is he? Or what year was he born?

KT: He was born in 1922.

JT: Two years before you, I see. And then your sister, you said, was seven years after that? So she was born in 1931?

KT: Nine years after me.

JT: Oh, nine years after you, okay. What was your brother's name?

KT: Shigeya.

JT: Shigeya, okay. Were you two close as brothers? Do you remember playing with them?

KT: Oh, not that close, but close enough.

<End Segment 2> - Copyright © 2021 Densho. All Rights Reserved.