<Begin Segment 2>

TI: So let's, let's go to your mother's side. So what was your mom's name?

AA: My mother's name was Sadako.

TI: And before we get to Seattle, what do you know about... so where in Japan did her family come from?

AA: She came from Tottori.

TI: So where's Tottori? That's a new one for me. Tottori is where? Do you know what ken that is?

AA: No.

TI: Or what part of...

AA: It's on the Japan Sea side.

TI: Okay, and what, what kind of work did your mother's family do in Japan?

AA: They were also farmers.

TI: And so tell me about your mother's family in Japan.

AA: My grandfather and grandmother came to this country and left, they had four children, and they left them behind, and they came to this country and established a business here. And they brought the four, four children over in several different times.

TI: So your grandparents on your mother's side, this is a little unusual. So they were already somewhat established in Japan with children, and they decided to leave their children in Japan, come to the United States to start a business or some work?

AA: Yes.

TI: And was this the greenhouse business, then?

AA: Yes.

TI: And then once things got established, then they went back and brought the four children to Japan -- or back to the United States.

AA: I don't think they went back.

TI: They just sent for the children?

AA: Yeah, as children were teenagers, they brought 'em over one at a time.

TI: And so your mother, was she in Japan?

AA: Yes, she was the second of the four.

TI: Oh, this is interesting. Second of four, so she... and who took care of the four children?

AA: The aunt, the aunt took care of the four children.

TI: Now, do you know much about your grandparents and what they were like to come to Seattle to do this?

AA: Oh, yes. I knew my, my grandfather passed away back in 1926, I believe, but I vaguely remember him. My grandmother lived to be about eighty-four, so I knew her quite well.

TI: And so what were they like?

AA: I really don't recall too much of my grandfather, but he was quite a businessman. He had, he had this greenhouse/nursery business, and he had quite a few people working for him. And my dad got a job there, he was the foreman of the company.

TI: And so is this where your father met your mother?

AA: Yes, that's right.

TI: Yes, this is interesting. So your mother was here already, okay. And tell me a little bit about your mother's siblings, 'cause she, you said she was the second of...

AA: The oldest one was named Hiromu Nishitani, and he worked in the greenhouse, he inherited the greenhouse after my grandfather passed away. And then my uncle that was one year younger than my mother was Yutaka. He last name was Akichika. The reason his name was Akichika rather than Nishitani was that he married, his wife was an only daughter and they wanted to carry on the name. I think they called that a youshi.

TI: Right. So he was a youshi, where he took on the name of the wife's family.

AA: Wife's family.

TI: So that that name could be carried on.

AA: Yes.

TI: And that last name again was...

AA: Akichika.

TI: Akichika, okay. And so that was Hiromi, and then was Sadako the second?

AA: Second one.

TI: Okay, then Yutaka, and then...

AA: And then the fourth one was Misao, and she married Jim Sakamoto, and they had the Courier newspaper business.

<End Segment 2> - Copyright © 2008 Densho. All Rights Reserved.