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MN: Okay. Today is April 14, 2010. We're at the residence of Harry Yoshikawa, and we have here Tani Ikeda on video. My name is Martha Nakagawa, and I will be interviewing Harry Yoshikawa. Harry, I'm gonna start from the beginning. Where were you born?

HY: I was born in Montebello, California.

MN: What is your birthday?

HY: 6/26/22.

MN: And what is the name of your sanba-san?

HY: Her name was Harada.

MN: And what is your birth name?

HY: My birth name is Katsuma.

MN: Now, you had two older brothers. Can you tell me their names and where they were born and what happened to them?

HY: The oldest one is Katsuiji, was born in Japan, he passed away in Japan. And next was Kiyoto. He passed away in Montebello.

MN: And how old were you when Kiyoto passed away?

HY: About a year or a year and a half.

MN: So you never knew any of your two older brothers. What is your father's name?

HY: My father's name is Kitaro.

MN: And how about your mother's name?

HY: Mother's name is Isami.

MN: What is her maiden name?

HY: Maiden name is Tagawa.

MN: So it's Isami Tagawa Yoshikawa? And what prefecture were your parents from?

HY: Hiroshima.

MN: Your father came to the United States first. Do you know what year that was?

HY: No, I do not know.

MN: Where did he land?

HY: He landed in Seattle, the way he told me.

MN: What did he do in Seattle?

HY: He worked on the railroad.

MN: Do you know what he did on the railroad?

HY: Yes, he was a cook on the railroad.

MN: And then what did he do after working on the railroads?

HY: He went back to Japan and got married and came back again.

MN: Now, why did he come back?

HY: Beg your pardon?

MN: Why did he come back to the United States?

HY: I guess the relatives were here, too, see, you know, in the United States. And he was over here, and I guess he liked it over here, to work. To work.

MN: Okay.

<End Segment 1> - Copyright © 2010 Densho. All Rights Reserved.