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MA: And then how did he meet your mother?

GK: Well, he met my mother in Tokyo. In 1924 when he was still at Yale, they passed the Oriental Exclusion Act, so no more Japanese or Chinese could enter the country. So he thought, "Well, if I wanted to marry a Japanese woman, I'd better go back to Japan right now." So that's what he did, he interrupted his studies and sailed back to Japan. And he was in Tokyo, and my mother's oldest sister was living in Tokyo at that time at the home of a man where she was a tutor to his children. So the man went, I think, to some church and heard my father speak about his impressions of America. And I think he mentioned he's looking for a wife, too. So then this man asked my Aunt Hana, "Do you know of anybody?" (In) my mother's family, there were eleven children. So Aunt Hana then contacted my mother up in Hokkaido, the northern island, and said, "I want you to come down and meet Reverend Watanabe." So that's what she did, she took the train down and came down to Tokyo and they met, and then they were married. So it was a very short courtship.

MA: And what is your father's name? I wanted to ask you...

GK: Paul Yorishige Watanabe.

MA: And your mother's name?

GK: Chie Watanabe. Same surname, but not related. Isn't that interesting?

MA: Okay, interesting. Both Watanabe.

GK: Yes, Watanabes, right.

MA: And what did your mother's family do in Hokkaido?

GK: Well, her father worked at the agricultural college in Hokkaido. (He was) in charge of taking care of the animals. So my mother says he used to bring home samples of milk, cheese and other Western type foods. So she was introduced to all that early in her life. That's what he did.

MA: And was your mother's family Christian, do you know?

GK: I don't think so, no.

MA: I'm wondering if your father ever mentioned how he was treated in Japan as a Christian growing up, and as part of a Christian orphanage? Just because I know that Christianity wasn't looked upon too well in Japan at that time.

GK: No, it wasn't. From the time he was in the orphanage, I guess it was okay, they were accepted. But then, like I said, when he went out of the orphanage to sell little things, they were taunted and made fun of and everything.

MA: So, okay, so your parents met and then married and then came back to the United States.

GK: United States.

MA: And did they go right to Boyle Heights?

GK: No. They landed in Seattle, and then they made their way down the coast, Oregon and then to California.

MA: And that's when they went down to southern California?

GK: Yes, and then they ended up in southern California, right. And I believe it was in the Gardena area.

MA: And what type of work was your father doing at that point, around the time you were born or a little bit...

GK: Well, I think for a while he worked for the Japanese Association. It was some kind of (social service organization) to help Japanese people (get settled). But then, so I'm not sure exactly when he was ordained. But then he went into his pastoral studies, and then he became a minister and gave up that Japanese Association work to become pastor of some churches there.

MA: And tell me about, I guess, a little bit about your parents, more about their personalities and what they were like as people.

GK: Oh. Well, they were very loving people, very supportive and caring. And my father was a very gentle man, and he was a good speaker, he was a good raconteur, and he used to tell us all sorts of stories around the dinner table especially. And he was well-versed in world and politics and things like that. So it was fun listening to him. And then my mother, she was more quiet, but then she had a good sense of humor. I can remember her having good laughs, she used to laugh a lot, which helped her. She was very supportive of her husband and she was a very good wife and mother.

MA: And, you know, I imagine your father was fluent in English because of his studies.

GK: Yes.

MA: Did your mother also speak English or just Japanese?

GK: Well, she could understand English when people spoke it, but then she was more comfortable speaking Japanese. So when we were growing up, inside the home, we would speak Japanese to her. And then once we went out the door, then it would be English.

<End Segment 3> - Copyright ©2009 Densho. All Rights Reserved.