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TI: So let's switch gears. Because your mother's background in Japan was very different than your father's.

JY: Yes.

TI: Why don't you talk a little bit about how your mother was raised in Japan.

JY: My mother's family lived in Osaka, and I'm told that they had a thriving business of manufacturing tabis. And the only other relative I know on my mother's side that I met was her brother who came to Los Angeles maybe perhaps when I was four or five years old. And he was, came here trying to start business in the United States, and stayed here for about a year and then decided to return to Japan. That was the only time I saw my mother's brother.

TI: But he came to the United States hoping to start a business with the, sort of, offshoot from the family business.

JY: I don't know just what he had in mind, this is too small to recollect what is, or even wonder what his business aspirations were.

TI: Well, how was your mother raised, though?

JY: Well, my mother, unfortunately, her father died, and as is custom, the father's family wanted to be free of responsibility for her, so she was returned to her home, to the mother's home. And then the mother died, and so she became an orphan. And she had an older sister who was a nurse, and apparently much older than her, but was, principal care was obtained through her sister. And then she was involved in a fire at the nurse, at a hospital, and she died. And apparently at this point, this was a church-connected hospital, and a lady missionary from Canada took responsibility for my mother.

TI: And so this woman, this Canadian woman, raised your mother.

JY: Yes. And my mother would go where this Canadian missionary would go, and she established a fine girl's school in Matsumoto. The school was quite well, nice structures, and curriculum that attracted most of the families, the nicer families that could afford that kind of school in the Matsumoto area.

TI: Tell me a little bit about this woman, it's kind of an extraordinary story, that you have this Canadian, she was Caucasian, who came to Japan as a missionary. But she must have been quite wealthy for her to build these really nice schools.

JY: She was quite wealthy, and she studied in Paris, and for some reason became interested about the mission, church's work in Japan. But not being trained as a religious worker, but still interested in missionary work, she had to go to considerable length to obtain the church's backing for her to go to Japan. But as you might imaging the person of this nature, this strong desire to do this kind of work, she finally did get to Japan. She always remained unmarried, and did considerable nice work in Japan.

TI: And it seems like your mother and she were quite close.

JY: Yes, uh-huh. And we still have pictures, many pictures of the school, the student body, as she grew up in the city.

TI: And what age was your mother when she was being taken care of by this woman?

JY: I would say it was pre-teens when she began. We have some pictures of her.

TI: So that's when it started, and for how long did it last?

JY: Right. So she remained in the city of Matsumoto, and that's where she met my father.

<End Segment 4> - Copyright © 2005 Densho. All Rights Reserved.