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MN: Today is Tuesday, November 30th. We are at the Japanese American Museum of San Jose. We have in the room Dana Hoshide on video, we will be interviewing Taneyuki Dan Harada, and I will be interviewing, my name is Martha Nakagawa. Let's start with your father's name.

TH: My father's name was Itaru Harada.

MN: And what prefecture did he come from?

TH: Fukuoka-ken.

MN: And you were telling me your father was the oldest child. Now, how was he allowed to come to the United States if he's the oldest child?

TH: Well, that I don't know. I don't really know.

MN: What about your mother's name?

TH: Yoshino Kutsunugi.

MN: Kutsu...

TH: -nugi.

MN: -nugi.

TH: Yeah.

MN: And what prefecture was she from?

TH: Also Fukuoka-ken, Sakurai-mura.

MN: Now, when did your father come to the United States? Do you know around what year he came out here?

TH: No, I have no idea.

MN: Do you know where he landed?

TH: No, that I don't know either.

MN: How about when he married your mother?

TH: Well, I don't know that.

MN: Do you have a vague idea when?

TH: Well, I'm sorry, it's before I was born, so before 1923.

MN: Well, how many children did your parents have?

TH: Two.

MN: And where are you in the sibling hierarchy?

TH: I was the oldest.

MN: And how many years older were you older than your younger brother?

TH: Two years older.

MN: And where were you born?

TH: Los Angeles, California.

MN: Were you born in Little Tokyo?

TH: Right, Little Tokyo.

MN: Were you delivered by a samba-san?

TH: Yes.

MN: So you remember her name?

TH: Not offhand. I have it on my birth certificate.

MN: What is your birth name?

TH: Taneyuki Harada.

MN: When did you pick up the name "Dan"?

TH: Well, that's when I was in, at Tule Lake. I believe the secretary of the block manager for some reason started calling me Dan, so, well, I thought it was pretty nice and simple, anyway, so started using that as my middle name.

MN: So you don't know how this secretary picked the name "Dan"?

TH: No, I have no idea. [Laughs]

<End Segment 1> - Copyright © 2010 Densho. All Rights Reserved.