Densho Digital Archive - Mitsuye May Yamada - Joe Yasutake - Tosh Yasutake Interview (denshovh-ymitsuye

<Begin Segment 22>

MY: And then we went to Japan in 1935, yeah. 1935, yeah. When you were three.

JY: Uh-huh.

AI: Was there anything about that period when your mom was gone -- your mother was gone for so long --

MY: Yeah.

AI: -- how that affected you as kids or the, kind of the family --

MY: Yeah, I re-, I remember at -- it was during Thanks-, she was going to -- they said, "Well, she's not going to be gone very long." And I remember that she might be, she might be home for Thanksgiving, and then she, she didn't come home. And then they said that she might be home for, for Christmas. And then she didn't come home. And then they said that she might, she will be home by Easter. And then I was, I think it was shortly after that, but I remember sort of counting the days, you know, because she was gone for such a long time.

TY: Well, what's interesting is that May remembers several ladies that came to help, but I could remember only one, and that was the one. The seicho lady who took care of you when you cut your lip. But the others, I don't remember Mrs. Toribara coming over.

MY: Yeah.

TY: I don't remember that at all. And we must have had several others.

MY: Yeah.

TY: And I don't remember any of the others. Do you?

MY: Besides Mrs., -- isn't that funny we just remember her as the seicho --

TY: Well, during that time Mrs. Tsujimoto was there frequently, too.

MY: Tenrikyo -- oh, who was the seicho no ie -- that wasn't -- was that another one? That we kind of remember these people.

TY: Oh, she had a round face.

MY: Seicho no ie, yeah. So we just remember these women by the their association with Tenrikyo or --

TY: Physical features and, and one lady smoked. And so that's about the only thing I remember. It's very strange. I don't know.

MY: Yeah.

TY: Because they were there -- they were, we had a series of people come and, ladies come and help.

MY: That's why you remember.

TY: Yeah.