<Begin Segment 24>

[Translated from Japanese]

TY: Well, things like the betrothal gifts, you practiced the betrothal gifts, didn't you? Well, could you explain a little bit about the betrothal gifts?

AT: The betrothal gift was money. Money. I don't know how much there was in the envelope, I don't know. The go-betweens brought it over as the betrothal gift. This time, our side took it back as a souvenir and returned it. Same thing. It was just that we saw the money. Just in the envelope, that, the one with noshi on. With that. We gave it all back to the go-between of the arrangement, and the go-between took it back. We just returned what we received.

TY: How did your husband prepare it while he was back temporarily from the U.S.? He just exchanged the U.S. money into Japanese yen?

AT: He exchanged money. Yes, that's right. In Japan, all the money was Japanese money, except for American money. So we did, and the go-between, she was related to my family and also to the Teraos. She was a relative, and the Terao was the main family. The new branch family was related to the grandma. She said that she would arrange the marriage since there was a young girl she knew, me, to the main family Terao, from here, since he came back from the U.S., and that's how she arranged my marriage.

TY: That's Grandma Kobata, right?

AT: The grandma, she used to be a maid at a palace long time ago, so she was strict with manners. She said, "Oh, what is it, what are you doing, taking five steps to walk on the tatami, taking five steps?" She said that it looked inappropriate. When she came over, when I noticed, "Oh, the grandma is here again?" I went through the kitchen secretly, climbed up the ladder, and hid myself on the second floor. They said that they were wondering why it was taking so long. [Laughs] So, my mother said, "Go greet her. The grandma is so, so worried." [Laughs]

TY: Could you tell me about your wedding?

AT: Wedding. I don't remember wedding too much. Well, let's see, we all went to the new house. There lived the main family of Terao, and here, it was like a block away, there lived the new branch family. My grade school friend was married into the new family. There was a relationship like that... we changed kimono to go to the wedding. I couldn't wear kimono from a mile and a half away even if I had taken a car, so I wore a regular kimono and went to the new house, and then I went to the house of the main family.

<End Segment 24> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.