<Begin Segment 2>

LH: So your grandfather, again, he came to the U.S. because there weren't any real opportunities for him in Japan.

FG: Yes.

LH: And he worked as a coal miner when he first got to Vancouver, and then when he went to Rock Springs he was also a coal miner when he got there?

FG: Yes, yes, yes. He went from coal mine to coal mine, and so, and then shortly after, when my father was seventeen years old, then my father was born in 1895 so this must have been -- if he was seventeen he must have been -- it must have been about nineteen-what, twenty-two?

LH: He was born in 1895.

FG: 1895.

LH: 1895, so about 1912.

FG: 1912, yeah. Well, then so my grandfather sent for him and so then my father came over. He didn't... I'm trying to think of the English word for, but Japanese word is mikko, illegal entry. He entered legally because my father sent.

LH: Father sent for him.

FG: Yeah, his father was, my grandfather, his father was already here and so...

LH: So your grandfather actually left his wife and his son.

FG: Yes.

LH: How big of a family did he leave behind in Japan to come?

FG: He left a family of, let's see, four.

LH: And had he intended to return to Japan after?

FG: Yes. In fact, I think in general they all intended to come back, go back to Japan for the simple reason was that there was really no way to stay here. They couldn't get citizenship and so if they couldn't get citizenship, then they wouldn't be able to own land.

<End Segment 2> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.