<Begin Segment 26>

TI: And then during that time you got married?

HH: Yes.

TI: So how did you meet your husband?

HH: He came to the office. [Laughs]

TI: Now if I get too, if I get too nosy, just tell me. You can just say... [Laughs] So how, so he came to meet you? Or to, he just came by the office?

HH: To meet me. I guess the men congregate where there are single women, and they try to crowd their way in.

TI: And so he was... he noticed you. He was attracted to you.

HH: Yeah, yeah.

TI: And so he wanted to get to know you better. So what's your husband's name?

HH: Hiram. He's a 442, so he was gone during the war.

TI: And was he a Hilo boy?

HH: No, Honokaa.

TI: And where, I'm, I don't know Honokaa. Where is that?

HH: Honokaa is an hour away from here.

Off-camera voice: Forty-three miles going north.

TI: And was he working?

HH: He was living alone.

TI: Working in Hilo?

HH: Working, yeah.

TI: So how did, I'm curious, how did the two, how did he court you? How, what was the dating like?

HH: He'd just come, make sure he picks me up and takes me home. That's the only way he could. Then we started going movies and stuff.

TI: How long did you date before you decided to get married?

HH: About a year.

TI: And what year did you get married?

HH: 1952.

TI: Okay, so just a couple years after you graduated. And then how many children do you have?

HH: I have three.

TI: And why don't you just, why don't you just give me their names?

HH: Eric, Neil and Leila.

TI: Okay, good. Anything else you want to talk about? I finished all my questions. Is there anything that, like that something that happened maybe during or after the war that, that you want to talk about?

HH: Not really. As I said, I saw the other side of Hilo.

TI: Is there something you want to talk about about that, or anything that you learned?

HH: It was a eye opener.

TI: Because I'm thinking about your family and how...

HH: Oh, by that time they're small, right? Nobody's, everybody's gone, married.

TI: Your family?

HH: Yeah. All were married. And gone.

TI: And your parents stayed in Hilo all this time.

HH: And he started a business. He left the print shop, I mean, the newspaper, and started a printing firm, and hired her and my brother, two brothers.

TI: And what kind of printing was that?

HH: General. All kinds of printing.

TI: And with a focus more on Japanese, maybe, printing? Or just everything in both English and...

HH: Both.

TI: Okay, well, so Mrs. Hagiwara, this is an excellent interview. I mean, thank you for coming here, and I appreciate, 'cause I know it's not always easy, but thank you very much.

HH: Thank you.

<End Segment 26> - Copyright © 2010 Densho. All Rights Reserved.