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TI: So today is Friday, May 21, 2010, and we're in the offices at Densho in Seattle, Washington. In the room, we have Les Fotos, who's observing, and on camera we have Dana Hoshide, and then I'm the interviewer, Tom Ikeda. So the first question, Virgil, is, can you just tell me the name that was given to you at birth, and the day you were born?

VW: Virgil William Nishimura. And I was born January the 8th, 1918.

TI: Okay, and so can you tell me where you were born?

VW: In Millersburg, Indiana, on a farm.

TI: And when you were born on a farm, was that at the farm, or were at, like, a health facility, like a hospital?

VW: I was in, no, just in the house, yeah. And it was a horrible storm. And how the doctor got there, we have no idea, but he did make it. And I was born right at midnight, and so my folks had a discussion on whether to call it January the 7th or January the 8th. And so my mother thought January the 8th would be better because that's more of a forward direction rather than going backwards to the 7th. So it was officially recorded January the 8th, 1918.

TI: Virgil William. Do you know who you were named after?

VW: Yes. "William" was after my mother's grandfather. His name, (first) name was William, as I understand it. And they lived in Ohio at the time, and the last name was Hoffman. But William was his name. And so I was named in the middle as William.

TI: And how about "Virgil"? Where did "Virgil" come from?

VW: "Virgil," they, my mother had some idea about Virgil the great Latin poet. And so she named me Virgil from knowing somewhat about the great Latin poet.

TI: Good. So you talked about being named by your parents and the date of birth. Tell me a little bit about, first, your mother. What was her name and when was she born?

VW: Okay, her name was Edith Loy, and she had to be born in the 1800s, but I'm not sure. I'm not sure of the date, though.

TI: Yeah, in my notes, I have 1895.

VW: That's pretty close, I think, yes.

TI: And do you know where she was born?

VW: Ooh, probably, I'd guess, I'd guess in Ohio. But I could be wrong there, I'm not sure.

TI: Okay, and tell me a little bit about her background. Like where were her descendants from?

VW: Okay, well, she was a descendant, her mother was German, and her father was English and a little bit of French. And his name was Loy, Thomas Loy. And she was, they eventually got divorced, Tom Loy and her mother, and Mae Jackson, Mae was her name. She got married again, and her name was changed then from Loy to Jackson. And my mother, of course, kept "Loy," L-O-Y.

TI: Okay. And can you tell me just a little bit about your mother's upbringing in terms of what kind of work her family did and where she lived?

VW: Well, I'm not too sure about what some of her family background was, but I can say that she was a musician, and she played the violin, the mandolin, the guitar, and the piano. And she had a beautiful voice. She sang at clubs and things, too, after us kids were born. And, but did we adopt any of her talents with music? No, we didn't, I'm afraid. [Laughs] Unfortunately. Virginia -- that's the second-born, my sister -- she was, she learned how to play the piano through my mother's teaching. And it was so dramatic, and try and try and try, and eventually, and so nobody picked up any of the other attributes of being able to, to learn the guitar or the violin and so on. Although my daughter is a, played violin.

TI: Okay. So your mother was quite a musician, a singer, could play instruments. How about in terms of her upbringing in terms of the family? What kind of work did the family do when she was growing up?

VW: Well, my great-great grandfather, her grandfather... see, yeah. Her grandfather was fairly well-to-do. And he had, he made some money in property. And he could have purchased the property near, in Elkhart, Indiana, where all the railroads went eventually, but he thought maybe that wasn't a very good investment, and he, he missed that one. But he had, they had some money, yes. And, but, and probably where she got her training in music and all those instruments that she played. And eventually, though, she became a bookkeeper, and she had beautiful writing. My dad used to, used to talk about her ability to, her penmanship. And she was a good bookkeeper, and very meticulous type of individual.

TI: Okay, good. So that gives me a little bit of background on your mother.

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