Densho Digital Archive
Densho Visual History Collection
Title: Sumiko M. Yamamoto Interview
Narrator: Sumiko M. Yamamoto
Interviewers: Tom Ikeda (primary); Barbara Takei (secondary)
Location: Sacramento, California
Date: December 8, 2009
Densho ID: denshovh-ysumiko-01-0030

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TI: So I'm thinking about your children. So what citizenship do they have right now? Are they Japanese or American citizens?

SY: They're both. I mean, my older, oldest daughter -- she's the oldest of the three, two boys and one girl -- and she's, she was American citizen.

TI: And how would she be an American citizen? Because she was born to a U.S. citizen, is that how that works?

SY: Yes.

TI: Even though you were born in Japan, you would be a U.S. citizen, if your...

SY: Yes. If your parents are U.S. citizen, then you're naturally, yeah.

TI: So you said the oldest is, so all your children have dual citizenship?

SY: Yes.

TI: Okay, good.

BT: But you didn't want to raise them biculturally? I mean, did you intentionally not speak English?

SY: No. It didn't even dawn to me that I could teach them English. I thought the school will take care of that, but they come home and they said, "Bata-furai," you know. "No, butterfly." And even then, it never dawned to me that, you know, I should teach them English. And they would say, "Oh, there's a teacher teaching English." I said, "Oh, that's good," and it's a Japanese teaching English, you know. So it can't be a true English teacher.

TI: So I wanted to ask, whatever happened to your parents? Did they stay in Japan all this time?

SY: Yes, they stayed in Japan. And they're staying in Japan.

TI: In that they're, they died in Japan and they're staying?

SY: Yes.

TI: Okay.

BT: Your father never wanted to come back, or your mother wanted...

SY: No, they never mentioned it. My mother came over here once to stay with my sister for about two years, and then she went back.

BT: But your father never wanted to visit.

SY: No.

<End Segment 30> - Copyright © 2009 Densho. All Rights Reserved.