<Begin Segment 3>

TI: So when you decided to go to Japan, how did you, what did you have to do to get ready to go to Japan?

KT: Everything was done for me and then arrangement done to Japan, to my father. He did all that, so all I had to do was go to Japan. But we took, we went to the Hilo harbor and rode the Hualala's line. I was sick right through, reached Honolulu, was met by my mother's auntie, and we stayed there until I was to leave Japan. And they bought me clothes, everything, because we didn't have money. They did everything for us. I was dressed in their style with hat and everything.

TI: So describe the clothes that you, you bought. So when you went to, from Hilo to Honolulu, what kind of clothes were you wearing?

KT: Gee, I don't... they had the photo, I had the photo of that, plain clothes...

TI: Very simple, plain?

KT: Yeah. Simple clothes that we could afford, the best from my parents. But when we went Honolulu, they bought some of everything. The shoes and everything.

TI: So these were more fancy...

KT: Yeah.

TI: But Western-style hat.

KT: Western-style. With a hat.

Off-camera voice: A straw hat. The collar had the... the wide one that kind of overlaps. Big belt and big buttons. That style.

KT: I think that was the style at that time, I think.

TI: And when, and when they were buying these clothes, you're fifteen, how did you feel about these clothes? Did you like them?

KT: I don't know what I did. [Laughs] Somehow I must have followed my cousins. They did all... they were older than me.

TI: Okay, so before we talk about the trip, when you had to say goodbye to your mother, father, the rest of the family in Hilo, describe that. What was that like?

KT: It was at the pier. All the neighbor children and my family was there, and with my father, we took a photo. My father took a photo. That, I don't know why, because I don't know why I say I want to go Japan. So that, after that, it's all on my own now. That much I knew, I was all on my own at fifteen.

TI: So that must have been a hard...

KT: Something, yeah.

TI: ...and difficult, because this was your first time.

KT: Yeah. Hard to think that I'm going to leave all alone. Didn't think much about it, but we had a, my father found a friend that I can share the ride with.

TI: And was this the first time you had left Hilo?

KT: Uh-huh. The first time I ever rode a boat, the first time in my whole life. And so I didn't know what to expect, but I just took it. I just took it. My decision was to go Japan, so I had to.

TI: And so you said you were sick all the way from Hilo to Honolulu.

KT: Yeah. In the boat I was sick right through anyway. And I was greeted by my mother's auntie's family, and they took care of us until I leave for Japan.

TI: When you were in Honolulu, did you get homesick? Did you at some point...

KT: No, nothing. Not that much because my mother was with me.

TI: Oh, your mother went to Honolulu?

KT: I think, yeah, I think she went with me.

TI: And then, but then from Honolulu...

KT: Yeah, Honolulu she went with me, with my younger brother. She took, because he was only six years old, so he had to take him, that's Katsusuke. He and Mother and we went together. So she left. She saw me off.

TI: So that was when you really had to say goodbye to your mother.

KT: Yeah.

TI: What was it like at that point?

KT: Because I don't know why, that's why. I think even I was fifteen, I knew what I was heading for. So I didn't say much.

TI: Do you remember how your mother was when she said goodbye?

KT: No.

TI: Because it must have been hard for her because she had to take care of you maybe extra because of your health.

KT: Yeah. It must have been hard for her because after I left Japan, I stayed there for six years, and my intention was to stay there. She wrote to me, "You come back." That's why I came back.

TI: So she missed you.

KT: Yeah, because I liked Japan. The life in Japan was something different, and I liked it.

<End Segment 3> - Copyright © 2010 Densho. All Rights Reserved.