<Begin Segment 19>

MH: And another book (that's) written is about this sister, the Accident of Birth.

AI: Now... now, tell me --

MH: And this --

AI: -- what was her name? Your, your younger sister?

MH: Yasu. And the, that book got printed, but the whole life is the struggle of trying to get back to this one country she loves and not being able to.

AI: Well, now, tell me again about Yasu and, and how her --

MH: (...) My mother was pregnant with her when she was suddenly called back to Japan because of the illness of her mother and father and could not get back into the States at the time of her birth, so she was born in Japan. As a result, she did not have American citizenship, so she was left behind to be brought up with the grandparents, which seemed to be the custom back (then). My oldest sister, remember, was left behind, and (Yasu) was the second one. So, and she was there until 1924, (before) the immigration law was changed. My father went back (to Japan) to bring the two girls back so that the family can be together, but unfortunately, my older sister was already through high school, was ready for specialized school, so she would not come. So she stayed in Japan and came to Tokyo to live with our other relatives, and she finished her school there. But Dad was able to bring Yasu home, who was only five. And so Yasu had all her education here, grade school, high school, and a couple years at the technical school, so she became a very, very efficient stenographer, and she was doing real great work. Well, at that time, I was back in Japan, and I was still teaching, and I went down to Nagasaki to visit the grandmother that brought up Yasu, and Grandmother asked if I was Yasu, and I had to tell her, "I'm sorry. I'm not Yasu, but I'm..." and she said she would love to see Yasu once more. And so I wrote to Yasu and says, "If you are (...) thinking of coming to Japan, come now, because Grandma's asking for you." So she came back and saw Grandma, and, of course, Grandma passed away, but she was able to get an excellent job with the, connected with the army of occupation. So she stayed and forgot to renew her reentry. As a result, from there on to the end of her life, it's the struggle to get back to the States. Mari wrote this book. And the last chapter is my older sister brings her back as, passed away as ashes. This is a sad... so we buried her ashes between my mother and father right here in Madison. So that's the story. It's a sad story, but anyway...

<End Segment 19> - Copyright © 2004 Densho. All Rights Reserved.