<Begin Segment 9>

[Translated from Japanese]

TY: Then to Yokohama, you went from Nagano Prefecture to Yokohama...

YI: The father and the mother came all the way to Yokohama to see us off.

TY: The Ichikawas?

YI: Ichikawas. I remember that from the deck I saw the mother crying.

TY: Now, will you tell me something about the ship. What was the name of the ship?

YI: The ship was Korea-maru.

TY: What is Korea?

YI: I wondered what Korea means and found out that Korea means the country "Korea." But it was a Japanese ship.

TY: Were all the crew members Japanese?

YI: Yes, they were all Japanese. Why did they name the ship Korea, I wonder? It was written in Hirakana.

TY: Was maru in the Chinese characters?

YI: I don't understand why it was called Korea-maru.

TY: Since the crew were all Japanese, did they serve only Japanese food?

YI: Let me tell you. We came in the second class. There were the first, second and third classes. The second class had all Western food. I had not eaten any Western food before and so could not eat them.

TY: What kind of food was served?

YI: I don't remember very well, but roast beef and chicken, I suppose. Just once they served Japanese udon, noodle soup. I thought that was delicious. At the beginning I got seasick. I was nauseated and could not eat. So I asked a waiter to bring rice to my room. He brought only rice and pickle everyday. The third class passengers were served mostly Japanese food. Miso soup, white rice, cooked vegetables and so on. I later regretted not asking for third class meals.

TY: Even if it was a lower class, you liked the meals better.

YI: Because there are Caucasian people among the first and second class passengers, they serve mostly western food.

TY: Then were there any American crew members?

YI: Probably. Since there were Caucasian passengers. Although there were Japanese passengers, too.

TY: Because it was after immigration was banned, do you think there were fewer Japanese passengers?

YI: That is right.

TY: I heard that long ago, there were all kinds of people. Before 1924, there were picture brides, immigrant workers, etc.

YI: In those days, the Japanese were all workers. Nobody traveled in the first or second class.

TY: What kind of people were in the first class?

YI: I wonder what kind of people were there. Probably a consul or somebody in a high position.

TY: How about the second class? What kind of people were in the second class?

YI: In the second class, there were a few Caucasians. Well, among the second class passengers, there were Japanese people, too. Maybe businessmen or someone like that.

TY: How about the third class?

YI: Well, in the third class, you know, workers, people who planned to work [inaudible]...

TY: By the way, was there anything special when you crossed the date line?

YI: What?

TY: When I interviewed somebody else before, that person said there was a special event when he crossed the date line. Was there such an event? A celebration or something?

YI: I don't know.

TY: When you traveled by ship, it took about two weeks, didn't it?

YI: Uh-huh. It took about twelve days.

TY: During that time, was there any party or a special event?

YI: Let me see. We hardly had anything in the first ship. When we returned, there was something, I think.

TY: Since you had never seen America before, what did you expect?

YI: Anyhow, when I saw the Caucasians in San Francisco, they all looked the same. [Laughs] I still remember that. No matter who I looked at, they all looked the same. Their faces. That does not happen any more. In those days, women had red lipsticks on. The cheeks were red. That was a popular make-up style.

TY: In America?

YI: Yes, in America. Also short dresses. Nowadays some wear short and some wear long. But in those days, if a short dress was in fashion, everybody wore a short dress. If a long dress was in fashion, then everybody wore a long dress. Everybody looked the same.

TY: How was America different from what you had expected? Was it different? What did you imagine America to be?

YI: No. When I saw a picture of an American, the women wore large bonnets and their dresses had puffed sleeves. That was the only picture I had seen. So I thought that everybody wore that kind of dress. Then it was very different. Everybody wore a hat , but nobody wore that kind of a huge hat. Besides nobody wore a long dress like in the picture. I thought it was very different.

TY: Also the land is vast, isn't it?

YI: But if you look at the pictures of the Japanese people who had come here much earlier than us, they wore that kind of dress. You can still see the pictures of the people who wore long dresses with puffed sleeves and wore huge hats.

TY: But by the time you came here in 1928, that was out of style, wasn't it ?

YI: Small hats were in. But almost everybody wore a hat. People nowadays rarely wear hats.

[Interruption]

<End Segment 9> - Copyright © 1999 Densho. All Rights Reserved.