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AI: Today is September 27, 2000. We're here in Seattle, Washington, with Tsuguo Ikeda, also known as Ike. I'm Alice Ito here at the Densho Project, and Dana Hoshide is on the camera. Thanks very much, Ike, for joining us today. And I wanted to just start off by asking you about your father. What was his name, and where did he come from in Japan?

TI: His name was Minoru Ikeda, but he got a English name, Tom Ikeda. And family came from Okayama, Odagun Omura.

AI: And you mentioned in an earlier conversation with me that he first immigrated to the U.S. in 1909. I was wondering, do you have any idea of why he came or what he did in those early years?

TI: No, I really don't know. (I), as a son, (I) never socialized, communicating, only in obeying what he said, and that was it. And so, I certainly missed that because I didn't know him as a person. But he did things like work on a railroad, lumber mill, that sort of thing and, to get enough money to go back to Japan to get married.

AI: And then, in fact, speaking of marriage, could you tell me your mother's name and...

TI: Tomoe Ikeda.

AI: And where did she come from in Japan?

TI: Same general area. So they were acquainted that way by family relationships.

AI: And you mentioned that your mother -- in an earlier conversation -- your mother arrived in May of 1920. Do you happen to know if your parents had originally intended to go back to Japan, or do you know whether they had decided to live in the U.S. permanently?

TI: I had a feeling that, like many immigrants, they were ready to make their mint. They thought they would really get rich in a hurry and go back. But that never happened.

<End Segment 1> - Copyright © 2000 Densho. All Rights Reserved.