<Begin Segment 7>

[Translated from Japanese]

TY: By the way, I heard that you met your husband through your brother.

YI: Oh, yes. Reverend Ichikawa was in the same class as my brother. So my brother introduced him to me.

TY: How did it go?

YI: In those days, we called such an introduction miai. I met him at my cousin's place. I did not know Reverend Ichikawa at all. He was from Nagano Prefecture.

TY: Oh, did he come all the way to Yamaguchi Prefecture?

YI: Yes, he did. I met him at my cousin's house. I had decided to leave everything up to my brother. I told him that I will not go anywhere except to a temple.

TY: Is that right?

YI: I said, "I don't care how poor the temple is. If I marry a farmer, I cannot do anything. I don't want to marry a farmer. I cannot do any business. I know something about temples, so I will not go unless it is a temple." I was thinking along that line since I was a little girl. Even if it's a poor temple, it's okay. I like to go to a temple. I did not tell this to the others, but my mind was made up.

TY: Not because you were told by your parents?

YI: I had made my decision. But my younger sister who is below me did not like temple life. She married a banker. She liked a more flashy lifestyle. She is still alive. She is hospitalized now.

TY: Is that right? Then you two were quite the opposite. You wanted to marry a priest, and your sister did not want to marry a priest.

YI: Moreover, my sister disliked country life. She wanted to go to a big town and marry someone other than a priest.

TY: Is that the sister who lives in Takarazuka now?

YI: What?

TY: Is that the sister who lives in Takarazuka now?

Shinya: It is Aunt Kana, isn't it? Takarazuka.

TY: The one in Takarazuka?

YI: Yes, she lives in Takarazuka.

TY: She lives in Takarazuka.

YI: She had a stroke and cannot talk. What a pity! She has an outgoing personality. She was not particular about anything.

TY: What is the age difference between you and your sisters?

YI: Well, there are about three years' difference. The sister who lives in California is twelve years younger because there are other brothers and sisters.

TY: That's the youngest sister?

YI: No, there is a younger one. In Shimonoseki. The one in California turned eighty the other day. She lost her husband recently.

TY: So, you met Mr. Ichikawa and both of you...

YI: Yes, I suppose. Mr. Ichikawa must have agreed. I did not have any particular wishes in those days. Since I left everything up to my brother, I thought Mr. Ichikawa was not such a bad person.

TY: Then, after you met him for the first time, how much later was it that you decided to get married?

YI: Well, I socialized with him for about a year. During that time he worked as an English language teacher in Niigata Prefecture. My husband.

TY: Is that right?

YI: Yes, he was an English language teacher.

TY: Then he must have been good at English.

YI: Yes, to an extent. Well, English conversation was difficult for him, but he could read and write quite well.

TY: Was Reverend Ichikawa from a temple family?

YI: Yes, a temple in Nagano Prefecture.

TY: Was it also a Shinshu sect of Buddhism?

YI: Yes. They went to the same college, and that was the connection.

TY: He went to a Buddhist university.

YI: Yes, Ryukoku University in Kyoto. It was a Buddhist university, mainly of Shinshu sect. It has grown into a big university now and teaches everything.

TY: I see. But in those days it was a Buddhist university.

YI: In those days it was called Ryukoku University. Ryu means "waterfall"; Koku means "valley." The reason the university was named Ryukoku was that it was taken from the name of a mountain. Most Buddhist temples are named after mountains. My family's temple is called Sairenji. On top of that is Mt. Tokoku. All the temples. Ryukoku University was named after Mr. Ryukoku.

TY: From there. The kanji for "waterfall" has a water radical and a dragon, doesn't it?

YI: Ryu is the Chinese character for "dragon." Underneath it, is "valley." Ryukoku University.

TY: So now you were going to get married. Did you exchange a wedding gift according to the tradition?

YI: Yes. We had a ceremony at Mr. Ichikawa's home. I don't remember clearly because it was not written precisely, but I think we got married in the middle or end of June. Then, at the beginning of July we came to America. It was the third year of Showa, 1928.

TY: Did you go to Nagano to get married? So you traveled to Nagano to have a wedding ceremony?

YI: Yes, to Nagano. I went for the wedding. I stayed there at their temple for about a month. Then we came here.

<End Segment 7> - Copyright © 1999 Densho. All Rights Reserved.