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LH: And so how long did he work railroads?

FG: He must have worked about ten years at least. I don't know how many of the years were -- right now I can't remember how many years were railroad and how many were the, was the mine. I think he worked in the mine only for maybe about three of the ten years, and after that he worked on the railroad. And what they did was they went along and they repaired the tracks, and they used to ride the gandy dancer.

LH: So he was a gandy dancer.

FG: Yeah, right.

LH: And when did your mother come to the United States?

FG: My mother came in 1922.

LH: And how did she come to the United States? I mean, how did she meet your father?

FG: Well, my father was by that time twenty-seven years old, about twenty-six, twenty-seven years old. Everybody said he was getting terribly old, he should be getting married. And so he went to Japan and he had a, I believe he had a three- or four-month visa and so he started very aggressively and actively looking for a bride. And he had, so he went back to the village and he had people bring him, people brought him pictures, photographs, of relatives and friends etcetera, etcetera. And he went... so then when he, when he found, whenever he was given a prospective then he would go and check them out. He'd hide in the bushes and watch them work in the fields, that type of thing, or he'd watch them walk down the street and kind of give, figure out whether or not that was the one he wanted. Well, finally he couldn't find anybody that he really, really thought that would work out for him. And then he had a... so he was getting kind of desperate... [laughs] and then so my, see, he had a second cousin who had, who had a niece that, I guess a niece, that was about the right age, a little bit young. But he thought that she was very healthy looking 'cause she was kind of heavy, [Laughs] and my father wanted somebody ganjo.

LH: Sturdy.

FG: Sturdy, right. So anyway, my mother who had kind of recently returned from Manchuria, she grew up in Manchuria, but her sister lived in, was married and lived in Tokyo. So my mother was, went to Tokyo and she was working. She was working in Tokyo and living with my aunt, and so my father kind of figured out this real ingenious idea that he would send a telegram to my mother. He didn't know her, but he sent a telegram and said, "Please come back. I'm ill," and so kitoku, and so then and signed it my grandfather.

LH: So he sent her a telegram that said, "I'm sick, please hurry," and then signed it her father.

FG: Yes. [Laughs] And then when she got to Hiroshima, she found out what had happened, and she talked to my grandfather. And my grandfather said that he apologized that he had allowed this, however, "it's kind of up to you." And my mother says, "Well, what do you think? What would you like me to do?" Japanese woman, right? And my grandfather says, "Well, it would be very nice if you would and it would help the family because we do have a family of ten children." And she was a second from the oldest and my mother says, "All right. If that's what you want, that's what I shall do." So that's how. It's kind of a picture bride, but it's sort of a complicated.

LH: But they did at least meet before.

FG: Yes. And they did, they were married in Japan and they spent a little time, but then my father came back to the States and then my mother followed later.

<End Segment 4> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.