<Begin Segment 8>

MN: People around you thought you betrayed them when they found out you had a formal blind date with an American.

YA: That is right. I had met with my husband and decided to marry him. I tried to break the engagement once, but I ended up not. The one who finalized the marriage -- my husband signed up with a matchmaking agency. I didn't know that, but the director of the agency was my father's friend. I met my husband through my father's personal network. This is what I heard later on. The matchmaking manger was enthusiastic about getting things done quickly. He told me to apply for a visa immediately. We went out on a date several times. He urged me. "Get a visa, get a visa." My husband was staying in Japan for over two years at that point, and he needed to return to the States. "Hurry up. Get things done quickly." I was sort of pushed forward and went to the American Embassy and signed the documents. That didn't give me the sense that I got married at all though. I just signed a piece of paper. [Laughs] It was some sort of declaration, but I didn't feel that I was really married.

I went home and got flooded with phone calls from newspaper reporters at work. Shizuoka was still pretty rural back then, and the matchmaking director talked to a newspaper reporter to be on the local section. That was his business, and he probably wanted to take the opportunity to publicize the successful arrangement for his Shizuoka office. He wanted to take advantage of the situation to promote his business because that was the first marriage arranged for a foreigner. The local newspaper wrote about it. The article was in the paper, and reporters were calling me at work. I was busy at work. They asked for Ms. Asakura, and said, "I heard that you are engaged to an American," when I answer the phone. I said, "That is something private," and hung up. That happened many times. Even my sister called. I was in the local section. I was working for the Japan Red Cross (Nisseki) Hospital, and the newspaper article mentioned "Ms. Y working for N Hospital." The article said I was engaged with an American, Nisei, Kibei Nisei. "She will probably work in the States because she is a nurse." I didn't say anything, but I was in the newspaper. My sister told me. Her friend told her about it and asked her, "It is your sister, isn't it?" My sister called me to let me know. I picked up the paper I subscribed and checked to find out what they said. I was in the local section. I was so surprised. I didn't mention the article to anyone. I didn't want to. When I went back to my hospital, everyone who passed by at the hallway -- I had been busy waving a red flag, and no one expected me to get married. They all counted on me to work hard for them. This was totally unexpected, and they asked me, "Are you getting married?" like it was a wrong thing to do. Every single person I bumped into said, "Congratulations, congratulations," and I was getting dizzy. Everyone said something to me when I was walking in the hallway. A doctor came to me and jokingly said, "What is this? There are no decent guys in Japan?" That was such an ordeal. I was overwhelmed. I had a lot of paid holidays left. We went on dates, but I at one point decided that it wouldn't work out. [laughs] That was what I went through. I had a nervous breakdown, took some time off and stayed at the dorm. I didn't have any appetite and looked like a zombie. I then made up my mind to go forward. I refreshed my mind and decided not to just let the time go wasted. I was at the point where I needed to do what I needed to do. I was in the newspaper, submitted my resignation and simply couldn't back out. The only way to go was forward. My mother didn't say much but told me to give it a try. She told me to hang in there for at least three years. She said she didn't care what I would do after staying put for three years there. That's how I hopped on a ship and came over. [Laughs] Oh, not a ship but a plane.

I went to Shizuoka Station on July 4th and found out there were a lot of people hanging around there. I looked around wondering what was going on. I left my job on April 30th, and that was July 4th. I was occupied with all kinds of preparations to come to the States after I left the position at the hospital and didn't have time to see anyone. I didn't go visit the hospital either because I wasn't working there anymore. I realized that everyone at the station I saw that day was from the hospital. I asked, "What is going on?" and some people just said, "Not much." I stepped into the train. I looked out the window and waved goodbye, and everyone shouted at the same time, "You are going in the wrong direction." Everyone there, about fifty young people from the massage department and the x-ray department at the hospital. Administrative workers and nurses. Everyone was a union member. They were all lined up on the platform and shouted in loud voices, "You are going in the wrong direction!" They knew I was quite anti-America back then. I was criticizing the States for the atomic bombs, and I wrote various articles about it. I was saying, "Go home, Imperial America," and "Yankee, go home," for a long time. [Laughs] I was really against America. I was on my way to the country, and everyone was angry at me. That's why they told me that I was going in the wrong direction at the station. I asked why so many people came to the station later on. I visited the hospital to let them know when I was leaving and said goodbye. I sent a thank you note too. The administrative manager saw it and made an announcement in the hospital newsletter called "Inpou." He announced that Yoshiko Asakura was leaving Shizuoka Station at such time on such day for the Haneda Airport. That's how they found it out. It was Sunday, and they all came. They probably wanted to wish me well, but maybe at the same time, they wanted to tell me that I was betraying them at the same time. They all were there, and that was on my mind for a long time. "You are going in a wrong direction."

I was receiving newsletters from the union for about one year after I quit. I no longer had anything to do with them. I was working for the union and suddenly resigned. I found my replacement to take over the secretary position. They were sort of blaming me for quitting and telling me that it would be hard to find a replacement. I told them that I had made up my mind to leave and to make my parents happy. I made sure the transition would be smooth and asked my personal friend to take over the secretary position. She was married with children, and it was hard for her to assume the responsibility. She was saying to me that she did it for me but it was hard for her children. I knew she would step forward for me, and she accepted the position as a favor for me. After I came over here, she jokingly told me that she was so busy with the position that she didn't even have time to take care of her own children when they were sick. I was carrying guilty feelings for a long time with those things in the past. But I told myself that I did the best I could and deserved to do what I wanted to do. Maybe not exactly what I wanted to do, but that was my fate and I had to do it.

My school of nursing had a closing ceremony the other day on their 70th anniversary. The schools in Nagoya, Shizuoka and Aichi prefecture merged into an international school of nursing and moved to a different location. They asked me to write for some collections of stories and organization magazines for the closing ceremony, but I declined the request. They sent me an invitation to the closing ceremony, and I went there back in 2006. I went to the ceremony. I was called upon without notice right there in the middle of the ceremony. I wasn't listed in the program. I was introduced as someone from the States and asked to say a few words. That was a Red Cross Hospital function, and governors and other dignitaries were in attendance. There were a lot of people attending the closing ceremony. I was called upon there, and I didn't have a choice. I had to say something. I was so nervous. [Laughs] I talked about my work at the Japanese school here. I don't speak very good English, and this is how I contribute. I wish you all good luck. That's about what I said. [Laughs] I am happy about my choice to become a nurse. I encouraged everyone to be proud of their job too. I worked for Asahi Gakuen and helped at a school nurse office for five years. I am still trying to utilize my skills as a nurse and to contribute to the society. It is a wonderful profession. I wished everyone good luck. That was my message I gave there. That was in 2006. I have been continuously trying to work to help other people. I am getting to be eighty now. [Laughs] Time flew by. I have been always busy. I'm afraid I didn't spend enough time for my own family. I feel guilty for my children. I was always struggling for achievements. That's what I see when I look back upon my life.

MN: Thank you very much.

YA: Not at all. I haven't done much.

<End Segment 8> - Copyright © 2010 Densho. All Rights Reserved.