<Begin Segment 12>

TI: So your sisters came back from Japan. Why did they come back?

HU: This was 1938, they were, let's see, Yoshimi-san was fifteen and Miharu-san was eighteen, so like she was eighteen, time to get married and that kind of thing, so that's one of the reasons. And also they would be of help to the farm, picking grapes or picking strawberries, something like that.

TI: It's interesting, because they, they pretty much, I think, grew up in Japan, then they come back to the United States. They must, how did they seem to you? I mean, did they seem kind of different in terms of more Japanese, or what were your impressions of your sisters when they came back?

HU: You know, that's a funny thing because I'd been away for so long that they didn't seem like sisters. Like, like growing up with the siblings is a lot different than having someone that you meet for the first time when older, so we were never really close like the regular siblings and there were times when I wish, gee, I wish we grew up together, would've been a lot closer.

TI: Yeah, because they were the ones closest to you. I mean, Ben was quite a bit older. How about Sam? Were you very close to Sam?

HU: Sam, he, he was, I don't know, he was one of the eccentric guy in our family. I know some people call me the most eccentric, but he was -- anyway, he didn't get along with Ben, and I remember he must've been about sixteen or something like that, sixteen, seventeen, and Ben was about eighteen, nineteen, and they started arguing and I remember they went, they went into actual physical confrontation and they were throwing each other around. I still remember that. And, and after that he went to Oakland. He just left home and left, went to Oakland and he lived by himself over there 'til he got married. So I didn't have that much association with him.

TI: So when you were growing up you were almost like an only child?

HU: Yeah. Yeah.

TI: Okay. So before we get to the start of the war, any other prewar kind of stories or memories you want to share that I haven't asked about?

HU: Let's see, I think... there was one time when I went to my friend's house. That was, I must've been about nine or ten years old, then he had this little bike and I was riding on his bike and I lost control and banged into a post or something and I got knocked out, and then next morning I woke up and I was in a daze. Then my mother asked me, "What did you do yesterday?" I said, "I don't know." So I lost my memory; it was a total blank. And they took me to a doctor and they said I had amnesia, so for one day I lost complete memory so my memory was gone, so that was quite an experience.

TI: So like, things like, could you remember your name and...

HU: Yeah, I remembered my name, but I just didn't remember what happened that day. Total, total blank. I guess it was sort of a temporary thing.

TI: Then after a day or so you recovered?

HU: Yeah.

TI: That's interesting.

HU: But no, I never did remember that, what happened, so I asked my friend what happened. He says, "You hit your head." That's about the only thing, information I got.

TI: Interesting.

HU: And he was, his name was Tadashi and he was a couple years older than me, and when we were small we used to go fishing together. You know, out there in the country we had this creek, natural creek, and in wintertime the water would rush through and summertime it'd sorta dry up, but there's these pockets of water and there was one place where they, this was this oak tree and a perfect spot for, as a swimming hole, and we used to go there and catch carps and catfish and, like, minnows and tadpoles.

TI: It sounds like you, you had a pretty happy childhood.

HU: Yeah.

TI: It was in the country, but pretty slow, relaxed, lots of the good things.

HU: Yeah. When I was growing up, when I was twenty or so I used to think, gee, I'm gonna get married and go back into the country and raise my kids out in the country type of thing.

[Interruption]

<End Segment 12> - Copyright © 2010 Densho. All Rights Reserved.