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TI: In going back to those -- well, let's first talk about your parents. So your father, can you tell me his name and where he was from?

WY: His name was Yasaku Nakamura, and he was from Shimizu. And my mother's name was Hamako, like "beach," "hama," Machida. And she was born in Shizuoka. I think they're the same prefecture, I'm not sure.

TI: And in talking about your mother, in your book, I think you mentioned she had a special relationship with a neighbor when you were quite young.

WY: Sugiyamas?

TI: Nakayama?

WY: I guess... is that what I called it?

TI: Right, Sono Nakayama. But part of the reason was that you ended up, I think, living with them for a short period of time, and it had to do with a, I think the house burning or something? Or something happened to your house, so you had to live there for a while?

WY: Oh, that was much later. But the, it was not... actually, their name was Sugiyamas, and they came from the same area, Shizuoka, as my mother and father did. So they were farming together, and I guess it's because Asian immigrants weren't permitted to own land. And so they would get together and lease, and divide it up. I think that's what happened. And especially those in the same, who come from the same prefecture, they had a lot in common. And so they, that's how I got to know them. I think my sister later on married one of the boys in that family.

TI: Okay, so that was Sugiyama.

WY: Sugiyama.

TI: Yeah, because I think that comes in later when your brother married. But I just wanted to ask you about... so you were born in Westmorland, in the Imperial Valley.

WY: I believe so.

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