<Begin Segment 7>

MN: Well, when did your mother call you back to the United States?

TH: 1938.

MN: Why did she call you back at this time?

TH: Well, looking back, I suppose because if I stayed there I'd be sure to be drafted.

MN: Now, how did you feel about returning to the United States?

TH: Of course, it was nice to be returning to my mother.

MN: How was the ship ride back to the United States as compared to the ship ride to Japan?

TH: Well, I don't really remember. I have the photographs of going to Japan with my brother, but it's... of course, it's always, on a ship, it always smells so, kind of rotten orange smell. Otherwise, I was okay.

MN: Do you know when you reached the United States?

TH: Yeah. I remember waiting at the pier in San Francisco. And my mother came out but she didn't recognize me at first, because she was expecting me to be taller and bigger. And finally she found me, and it was getting pretty dark then. And my, well, by then my mother had married, and my stepfather was really my uncle, my real father's younger brother. So they came after me and then we rode across the newly built Bay Bridge and reached the apartment in Oakland.

MN: Now, when you saw your mother, did you recognize her? You said she didn't recognize you.

TH: Oh, yeah, I recognized her.

MN: Now, when you reached San Francisco, did they stop you at Angel Island first?

TH: No.

MN: Now, you said your mother had remarried your father's younger brother. So did you know him from when your dad was still alive?

TH: No, not really, no. I don't remember.

MN: You haven't seen your mother in six years. What was the reunion like?

TH: Well, of course, it was good to be back to the United States with my mother. Well, basically, I'm kind of easygoing, so whatever happens, I tend to accept it.

MN: But you didn't hug or anything like that?

TH: No, not... I think Japanese don't do that.

<End Segment 7> - Copyright © 2010 Densho. All Rights Reserved.