<Begin Segment 9>

MA: So then you had a long boat ride to Japan, and when you arrived, did you go see your relatives in Fukuoka?

IN: Not immediately. My uncles from the country, in those days, when it was a country, it was really the country. So my uncles, I had two uncles that came to the boat. They had come from Fukuoka to Yokohama, that's where we docked, and they came to visit us. So we took them and we went on a tour of Tokyo -- no, Yokohama? I'm not sure. But we went sort of on a tour. And it was very funny because one of my uncles, being very, very rural, never been in the urban area, got carsick at every car or bus that we rode. He was not used to it, that kind of transportation. So he was constantly upset getting out. [Laughs] And then after that, after we toured a little bit, we went to my father's birthplace.

MA: And you were telling me you were able to travel a lot around Japan, right, with your father?

IN: Once we got to his birthplace and met the family and his mother and father, my father decided to tour Japan. So my mother was a very frail woman and not much into traveling. So he took this nine year old as a companion. And I think that's when I got the travel bug. He took me, and you know, Japan was the old Japan, where there weren't as many tourists. It wasn't as... so all of the temples, etcetera, were very quiet, what you think Japan was in the old days. But I had a very pleasant trip. Saw a lot.

MA: And you saw an interesting scene in, was it in Beppu? You went to the, you saw the courtesans walking around?

IN: Oh, yeah. So my mother wanted to go to the onsen, which is the hot bath, so we went to Beppu. And in those days, Beppu was a very, very small little town. It's not what it is today. And so one night, my father wanted to take a little walk. So of course, he took me. And I think he had a reason to take me. We walked through a district where all the lovely ladies in their kimonos were sitting outside their little shops. And they would come up to my father and try to urge him, you know, to come in. And then they were, tell me what a sweet little ojouchan I was. So they'd try to pull my father in, but my father said, you know, no, he's got this daughter. But I think to this day, he took me so that he could avoid that situation. But I remember that to this day. These powdered ladies with the neckline very, very low, urging my father. [Laughs] Then I found out that it was a, what do you call it, red light district.

<End Segment 9> - Copyright © 2008 Densho. All Rights Reserved.