<Begin Segment 16>

[Translated from Japanese]

TY: Didn't you think about going back to Japan?

YI: No, we didn't think about going back.

TY: You wanted to manage here.

YI: Uh-huh. I was determined to stay here at least for ten years before I visited Japan again. Reverend Ichikawa got homesick when his mother died. We decided to return suddenly. After five years. For the time being.

TY: Then, were you planning to live here permanently when you came to America? You said you were determined to stay put for at least ten years.

YI: Well, I am not sure. I did not think one way or the other. In those days nobody came to America to live permanently. That's why they didn't buy a house even if they had money. Only a few families bought houses. Even in Fresno.

TY: They all planned to go back some day.

YI: Those with houses must have decided to stay here permanently. Everybody lived in the rented houses.

TY: By the time you came here in 1928, the second generation children must have grown quite old.

YI: The second generation?

TY: Some older second generation.

YI: Let me think. Some older children were in high schools.

TY: Even so, did they want to return to Japan?

YI: Everybody planned to stay here only for three years, but ended up staying for life. It was difficult to return. They had not saved enough money. The children became older. There were many people like that.

TY: Did the children understand what the parents were thinking?

YI: The parents wanted their children to be educated in Japan. So when the children became a certain age, the parents sent them to Japan. The children. Some parents felt the children were a burden when they had to work. They sent their children to the grandparents or uncles and aunts. They sent their children to Japan to receive a Japanese education.

TY: The parents were thinking of returning a little later.

YI: Then when the children completed their education in Japan and matured to a certain age, they returned here. In those days, American money was worth twice as much. Compared to Japanese money. So when you saved some money, you would send that money to Japan and ask the relatives to take care of the children. Because American money was worth much more. If you had many children, you would send two to Japan and keep the remaining few here. In those cases, the children who completed Japanese education would return home here, but could not get along with the remaining siblings. Those educated in Japan had different values. Therefore, a young man told me once, "Mrs. Ichikawa, never separate the children and send some back to Japan." He said, "Since I was educated in Japan, I don't get along with my brothers and sisters."

TY: Those children hardly knew their parents.

YI: The children would be distant from their parents. The young man admonished me never to do that.

TY: Did it happen while your children were still young?

YI: He was sent back to Japan when he was little. He returned to America after graduating from a middle school, a high school. But he was having a problem with his siblings here. The parents would be worried, too. So he told me not to do that. He said it was not good.

Shinya: Mom, how old was your child? The age of Satoru. How old?

YI: Oh, you mean when I returned to Japan?

TY: When you were given such advice. The young man told you. A Kibei.

YI: My husband's elder brother did not have children. They did not have a son to succeed the temple business. So, he wanted Kazuya, our second son who lives in California now, to stay there. He did not dare say that to me. My husband told me later. But the elder brother never mentioned. He could not ask. He could not say, "Will you leave one of your boys, the second boy, here to succeed the temple business?" He could not say it.

TY: Was that while you were in Japan?

YI: Uh-huh. I would not have left him even if he had asked.

TY: A returnee gave you such advice. Never do it.

YI: He told me when I lived in Fresno. I didn't think about his advice, but I didn't want to give up one of my children for a Japanese relative. No matter how many children I might have. My brother-in-law did not dare ask me. To ask me to leave one of my children with him. He said nothing.

TY: Then you lived in Fresno.

YI: This time, we lived in Kobe for about two years. He was not thinking of going back to America. Reverend Ichikawa. So there was a big temple in Kobe. He worked there. About two years. Then Reverend Matsuyama, head minister in America, visited us for some business and told us, "The head minister in Seattle is going to be the head minister in Canada. Will you please go there to replace him?" He asked if we wanted to go and we accepted.

<End Segment 16> - Copyright © 1999 Densho. All Rights Reserved.