<Begin Segment 18>

TI: Okay, and there was one other thing that I didn't ask you about. When your father first came to the United States, my understanding was he came as a, thinking he'd be a student. Can you describe what he wanted to go into or what he wanted to study?

BH: I have no idea about those days.

TI: But then I think I read someplace where he was planning to go to law school?

BH: He was, he had a Stanford, I think it was supposed to be, going, and I think the uncle was supposed to be enough money to stand him to school at Stanford, and so he was depending on that to go to Stanford. But in the meantime, I guess, after that, when he couldn't go to school, that's when he started getting, going all over, ranch, looking for work.

TI: But that, I think, is kind of an indication that your father must have shown a lot of promise in terms of academic ability.

BH: He was very, even in the village, he was very, one of the top. That's why he went to, after grade school, I guess how they do it in Japan, I don't know, but there was a little ways from home, that he was supposed to go to a school special school for English and all that. But of course he came to this country, so he didn't go anymore. But his wealthy uncle was gonna send him over. He said, "I'll furnish all the expense," he says, "so go." But his uncle had a fishing, I think, that goes out to get the fish, big deal. I guess he had lots of people working for him. And so he was making good money, I guess. So he's the one that was going to furnish this. But they had a big storm and the whole boat sank, so he had no income. That's why he had to go scrounging around looking for jobs.

TI: It's amazing how things work out one way or the other.

BH: Yeah.

<End Segment 18> - Copyright © 2009 Densho. All Rights Reserved.