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TI: Let's talk a little bit about your father. Can you tell me what your father's name was?

SI: My father's name was Tatsuya, T-A-T-S-U-Y-A, Ichikawa.

TI: And do you know where he was born?

SI: He was born in Japan at the Nagano Prefecture, a little town called Iiyama in Nagano-ken.

TI: And what kind of work did your father's family do in Japan?

SI: My father's family comes from seventeen generations of Buddhist ministers. So they have a long history.

TI: Is that, is that common for families to have that long of lineage of Buddhist ministers?

SI: I believe in Japan, since the temples are generally, are taken care of by the family, then it goes from one generation to the next, I believe it is pretty common in Japan.

TI: And so did the family have its own temple?

SI: Yes, they have their own temple in Iiyama, Japan. And I was very fortunate to be able to visit it a few years ago.

TI: So I guess the question is, having been part of this long lineage of Buddhist ministers, why did your father decide to leave Japan?

SI: Well, for one thing, I believe that being that he was the second son in the family, and usually the eldest son takes over the temple, he had that liberty to move out, and he wanted to go to the United States to try to further his missionary work.

TI: And so do you know about what year he decided to do this?

SI: I believe that the first time that he came over, he accompanied the Gomonshu, who is the head of the temple in Japan, the Kyoto headquarters, he accompanied him as a baggage boy, carried his baggage around. But I believe that he was chosen because he showed leadership, and was very well-versed in the Buddhist sutras, and so he was chosen to become the baggage boy. But the Monshu was touring the United States and he wanted some assistants to go with him. That's how he got over here in the first place, and that was back, I believe, around 1925 or '26, I'm not certain about that. Finally, when he came back for the second time, this was after he was married in Japan, that was in about '27, I believe.

TI: And so the second time, where did he, did he settle someplace the second time?

SI: Well, he was assigned by the then Buddhist Missions, headquartered in San Francisco, to Fresno, California. And that is where I was born.

TI: So it sounds like the second time, your mother also came with him. The first time she didn't.

SI: Yes. He returned to Japan, got married to Mom, and then they both came over on the second journey of his.

TI: Okay, so before we get to you, let's talk about your mother's family. Can you tell me your mother's name?

SI: My mother's name is Yasashi Ichikawa. Her maiden name was Yasashi Nishi.

TI: And sort of same question, what did her family do in Japan?

SI: She also comes from a temple family that goes back many, many generations, probably about the same number of generations that my dad's family comes from. Anyway, she often tells me that it goes back maybe about sixteen or seventeen generations.

<End Segment 2> - Copyright © 2009 Densho. All Rights Reserved.