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AI: Well, let's go a little bit farther in the past and ask you to tell us a little bit about your father and his name and his background from Japan.

RI: My father was Tsuyoshi Inouye and he was the elder of two brothers. And, actually, an older son is supposed to take over the family and take care of the parents but he wanted to come to America and he told his parents that he would work hard and send money back. And so the second son was actually financed by my father's sending money from America and the second son was able to go to Europe to get some education. But my father came when he was about eighteen years old. And at first, in order to learn English, he was like a houseboy where they stayed with a Caucasian family and took care of their furnace or whatever and then went to school, and I think he went to Stevens grade school to learn English. And then in the meantime, because there were lots of other people from the same area in Japan who also came to Seattle, they had a big circle of friends. And most of his friends were in the restaurant business, so eventually he became a restaurant person and started to own a restaurant and gradually get his business experience that way.

AI: Do you know much about what his family did in Japan, and what area that was?

RI: I'm sure they were farmers in a small rural area in Ehime-ken which is Shikoku, southern island, and, well, probably not very well-educated. But my father, compared to other boys his age, was fairly well-educated in that he went to, I don't know whether it was a business school or middle school, or what, but he got a few more years' education than most of his friends did. But when he came to America, well, you know, his intent was to learn English right away. And then after he was in business for a while he needed a wife. So then I think his parents arranged for my mother to come here. And by that time my father probably was about thirty years old. And my mother was selected from a nearby village and she was seventeen years old at the time. But she, I think the prospective, prospective husbands send money for the bride's transportation. And so, he, since he was running a restaurant, he wanted help right away. So he sent extra money so that she could get on a boat from Kobe, first class, or, anyway, better class than the last class where most of the other brides were waiting for. And in that way he was able to book passage, she was able to book passage a little earlier than some of the other women. And she said she turned eighteen in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, and I guess that was the legal age when they could come to America and get married. And so when she came to America she didn't know what her prospective husband looked like, but I guess he found her, maybe by pictures, so that, you know, she was called a "picture bride." And then immediately took her to a home and, I don't know how a formal marriage is conducted, but apparently it's done in Japan. I don't think they went through any marriage ceremony, but maybe when they're betrothed or something, they're, they're married that way.

DG: I think their name is registered --

RI: Or something like that.

DG: -- in family history.

RI: But anyway, she, fortunately, I think she was quite, well... smart, I would say, I mean, for a better word. But she was able to learn the American ways pretty easily. But she said that she was bewildered when he, she was first brought to the home and told to make the bed. And she said, "Make the bed? What am I gonna do?" So she folded up all the sheets and blankets and piled 'em up just like in Japan. And then he said, "Pull up the blinds," or, "Pull down the blinds." Well, what are blinds? [Laughs] But those are the things that she talked about and laughed about later that she didn't understand the American way of living because, you know, she was used to the Japanese ways. But, anyway, she -- and then, immediately, he put her to work at the restaurant and he told her to be the cashier so she, she had to learn how to give change and learn the money system and so I guess she learned quickly because -- [laughs] -- he was too busy to teach her very well, but, anyway.

<End Segment 2> - Copyright © 2003 Densho. All Rights Reserved.