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[Translated from Japanese]

TY: Could you tell me how you met your husband?...Your husband.

TM: About my husband?

TY: Yes. I heard that you had a meeting with your husband for the arranged marriage when you were twenty-one.

TM: Yes, that's right. I was twenty-one. I think my husband was twenty-eight. [inaudible]. He was also from Nagano Prefecture. Our mutual friends introduced us and we got married after the arranged meeting. Then, I came to the United States.

TY: Was the arranged meeting at home? Where did you have the meeting?

TM: No, the meeting... I don't know. I don't think it was at the house of the go-between... I forgot it all since it happened such a long time ago.

TY: Then, you decided to get married.

TM: Yes. My husband had already been here before, and he came back to Japan to look for a bride. He was originally from Chiisagata. So, he came back. There was a village called Chiisagata in the same ken. He was originally from there. Then, he came back to Japan. Until then, he was in the U.S. since he was nineteen years old. Then, he came back, and we got married through the introduction of our mutual friends, then we came over here.

TY: Your husband left for the U.S. before you.

TM: Yes.

TY: You started preparing for your passport.

TM: No, oh, yes, that's right. See, I had to get a passport. So, he went back to the U.S. Then, I got a passport and came to the U.S. alone. He had already been over here. We didn't do such a thing as deciding the date by telegram back then. Since we corresponded by mail, it took days to communicate. Then, I came over here.

TY: I heard there was a physical test when people left Japan. A physical test.

TM: Yes.

TY: That was before you came to the U.S.

TM: Yes, that's right. Physical, there was a physical test. Yes. I took the test because I had to get a passport. I passed the test, then I came over.

TY: How about your English? What about studying English?

TM: English, English...

[Interruption]

TY: How did you learn English before you came to the U.S.?

TM: English.

TY: Before you immigrated.

TM: Well, actually, I couldn't really learn anything. Somebody I knew, somebody taught English to me. I forgot how I learned English. I could learn only some words, though. [Laughs]

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