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TI: And so today is Monday, September 21, 2009, and we're in Torrance, California, at the Torrance Holiday Inn. And running the camera is Dana Hoshide, and then assisting on the interview is Martha Nakagawa, and I'm Tom Ikeda. And so I'm going to start, Frances, by asking, can you tell me what was the name given to you at birth?

FK: My birth certificate is Frances Midori Tashiro. But when I was born, I was born at the old Japanese hospital on Turner Street, and there were some Nisei nurses who worked there. One of them was Mrs. Kuroiwa. She wasn't married then, I don't think, but she was Catholic, member of the Maryknoll church. So my parents asked her to find me a Christian name. And Mrs. Kuroiwa named me Frances.

TI: And was your, were your parents Christian or religious?

FK: At that time, no, they were not. They were straight off the boat, you know.

TI: And do you have a sense of why they thought it was important to give you a Christian name?

FK: Well, my father was very advanced in his thinking for an Issei. And I guess he figured one of these days, who knows? And besides, he was a close friend of Dr. Kuroiwa. They worked together, they were both newly arrived immigrants. Well, at that age, I didn't have a chance to ask him. A lot of it I'm assuming.

TI: Okay, so we asked your name, tell me your birth date. What day were you born?

FK: April 30th.

TI: And the year?

FK: Well, 1928, yeah. Makes sense.

TI: And you mentioned -- well, before we talk about your father, let's talk about your siblings. Tell me who your siblings were in your birth order.

FK: Well, my oldest sister Aki was born in Fukuoka, Japan. My parents were married in Japan. My dad was, I guess he was... after he had graduated medical school in Tokyo, or Fukuoka... at least, I think it's Fukuoka. And his parents were already here in the States. They were farming in San Gabriel valley, in Temple City.

TI: Oh, interesting. Your grandparents were here already farming. And going back, so we're talking about siblings, so Aki was the first one born in Fukuoka, and then after Aki?

FK: Well, and then my parents, my father immigrated to the States and left my mother there with the baby. And after, I don't know, a couple of years, he was able to send for her, and she came with my sister Aki as an infant, and met them in San Francesco and brought them over to California.

TI: Or to Los Angeles, southern California, right.

MN: Right. And couple of years went by and then my second sister, Sachi, was born. And she was born in Gardena.

TI: And what was the age difference between Aki and Sachi?

MN: I think three years. Sounds right.

TI: Okay, so about three years. And then after Sachi came you?

MN: Uh-huh.

FK: And then any other siblings after you?

MN: And then after me, there was a boy, he was born in, two or three years after I was born. Back in those days, I guess infant mortality was rather high, so he died when he was about five, four and a half, five years old. So I remember having a younger brother.

TI: And do you remember his name?

MN: Ken.

TI: And do you remember what he died of?

FK: No. He was sick for a long time and then he died. Parents didn't talk about things like that.

TI: And how about, do you remember when he died? You were probably about seven years old or so.

FK: Oh, yes. I was, I think I was five and a half or six years old, because I was in kindergarten, I recall that. And he was my playmate when I would come home from school. And I keep telling my husband, as a playmate, we used to play in Nihongo. Because that's all I knew at home. So we used to crank up the records, Japanese records on the phonograph, and sing Japanese songs and play Japanese games.

TI: And when you say "Japanese games," what would be examples of some Japanese games?

FK: Boy, my memory doesn't go that far back. I wish it did. But everything was in Nihongo. And we used to go to kindergarten and not know a word of English. But we'd just sit there and smile and behave and turn around and come home, you know. So we were all well-behaved. [Laughs]

TI: So it sounded like you and your younger brother were pretty close.

FK: Yes, we were.

TI: And so when he got sick and died, what was the impact on you? I mean, what do you remember of that time?

FK: Well, the mood in the household was real quiet. And no one explained anything, but we knew something major had happened. And my mother kept telling me that, "Ken's up in Heaven," and so we'd always look up and see a cloud floating and think, "Oh, that's where Kenny is." It made it easier to bear.

TI: Now, was there a sense, was he treated, when he was young, differently because he was the only boy? Here you had three girls and then a boy. Was he given, like, special treatment because of that? Do you remember that?

FK: Well, usually with a younger sibling, you do treat them better, special, because... well, he just happened to have a nice personality. And we used to play games together, little kid talk. It was always fun, but it didn't last long enough.

TI: That's tragic.

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