Densho Digital Archive - Tokio Hirotaka - Toshio Ito - Joe Matsuzawa Interview (denshovh-htokio

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AI: Okay. And Mr. Ito, can you tell me where and when you were born? And a little bit about your parents?

TI: I was born in Bellevue in 1922, on October 23rd in the Highland area of Bellevue. And at that time it was known as Peterson Hill. Today it's the home of Glendale Golf Course. And the lower end of it is where Kelsey Creek now is part of the Bellevue park system, I believe.

AI: And what was your father's name, and your mother's name?

TI: My father's name was Itaro Ito, first-born in his family, eldest son. And my mother's maiden name was Shimeno Akiyama. They came from Fukuoka Prefecture on Kyushu, and they both lived in neighboring villages. My father's family were farmers, and I believe my mother's family also, for a short time. But they moved into the, a village closer to town, and so, after that I don't really know what happened to their occupation.

AI: And about when did your father come to the U.S.?

TI: My dad went to Hawaii, like many Issei parents did. And he worked on the pineapple plantations. And he stayed there until about 1906, and then he decided to come to the United States mainland, so he got off the ship in San Francisco. And he stayed in and around San Francisco, I don't really know what he did, odd jobs, that he could find, here and there I suppose. But after the big quake of 1906, and the fire, he decided to come up north to the Seattle area. And he was working in the Bellevue area in the farming, and clearing land for that purpose. My mother, meanwhile, was still in Japan. But she had her sister and her husband's family living in Seattle at that time, and they were pretty well-established. They had a barbershop. And Mr. Fukuda had a stall at the Pike Place Market, like a lot of early Issei farmers had in those days. Well, my dad, being Fukuoka-ken, and the Fukudas also were Fukuoka-ken, and in those days the ken people tended to stay together, and they were, they became quite friendly. So my aunt, Mrs. Fukuda decided that, well, she's got a younger sister in Japan... and she let her know that there's this man that's a Fukuoka-ken, and maybe they should get together. So she made arrangements for my mother to come over to, for the purpose, pretty much, I would imagine, to see and check out the prospects.

So, my mother got on the ship called Kashu Maru, and in those days I believe the Port of Tacoma was larger than what Seattle had. And most those ocean-going ships landed in Tacoma. So my mother got off at the Port of Tacoma. And the Fukudas came over by horse and buggy to Tacoma to pick her up, in Tacoma. But it was such a long journey in those days, they decided to stay overnight in Tacoma, and then they drove back to Seattle where the Fukudas live. And shortly after that, get together with my father. Well, they got married in the year 1909. And then they moved out to Bellevue to clear lands, and started in farming. I have, they had seven children, and the first two, Sachiko, I mean -- excuse me, Satomi and Sachiko, were born in Bellevue. On what is now Bellevue Way, where the Safeway store is located. That was, Satomi was born in 1910, and Sachiko was born in 1913. And then, shortly after that, they moved out to Peterson Hill, and the rest the family, Shigeru, born in 1916. Hiroshi, born in 1918. Sumi, born in 1920. I was born in 1922, and my youngest sister, and the last, was born in 1923. And that's about the family, that's my family.

AI: So that's your family. Thank you.