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AI: Well, tell me more about your mother, please. I -- you had mentioned a little bit in your first interview that your mother read quite a bit, that she was educated in Japan, so she was literate, and that reading was one of her favorite activities. Maybe you can tell a little bit more about your mother and some of her influence on you as a child.

FY: When it began, I'm not sure, but I'm inclined to think my father was not a very good conversationalist. He was a very, very hard worker, and I remember him always working. And of course, the women worked just as hard if not harder. But because of lack of communication, I think, she started to read. That was her means of escape. And the more she read, the more aware she was of everything else. And then because I was sickly, she would, of course, have to stay home and take care of me. And she would read stories to me. And again, that was enjoyment for her and for me, too. So gradually as time went on, she became almost addicted to reading. I can remember her, and she would even pick up a advertising piece and start reading it -- in Japanese, of course. But she would even read that.

And later on -- I'm skipping -- but later on, when I grew up, she had a huge clock in the bedroom there -- oh, and in the apartment, she had it in the kitchen because she moved the bed from the bedroom to the kitchen so that it's, she could just get up and have her breakfast and read in bed because it was cold, and it'd keep warm in bed. But she had this huge clock there because she wanted to limit herself as to how much time she, she should read. She -- she just -- she was really addicted to reading.

AI: And as you were getting a little bit older, would -- you mentioned that she would read stories to you. Did she ever read the newspaper to you or talk to you about what was going on that she would read in the newspapers or magazines?

FY: Well, she would be reading so many, there was several religious, Buddhist religious books she used to read. And any magazine -- I don't think even her friends could keep her supplied. My wife and I -- at one time after we'd grown and she would come over to baby-sit, we figured she must average five, six hours minimum a day, just reading every single day. She used to come over to baby-sit for us, and we would come home and we'd find the kids off someplace and we wondered, where is my mother that's supposed to be taking care of the kids? Well, she would be under a shade somewhere under a tree. She'd be reading. She -- it was an addiction on her part. But as a result, she was very knowledgeable, aware of what was happening. And yes, she had a lot of influence on me, talk -- I used to ask her about what are some of the situation in Europe because I didn't have time to read. I'm just trying to make a living and go to school.

AI: Right. So for example, when World War II was starting already in Europe, then would she sometimes read about that and describe to you what she read?

FY: Yes. Well, by that time, I'm a teenager, and I'm not spending too much time talking with my mother. I'm out looking for girls. [Laughs]

AI: Right.

<End Segment 4> - Copyright © 2001 Densho. All Rights Reserved.