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TI: Talk about your mother's family a little bit.

PJH: Mom's family, oh wow. She was, my, let's see, my mom herself was born in Calexico, California and she came from a huge family of ten kids, nine girls and one boy. My grandfather came from... oh my goodness, it's just left my -- Fukushima. And his family supposedly was connected to samurai, but I'm not sure. I think it was more, more farming, but this is what I heard. And my grandmother also came from Fukushima, and she too was a war, a "picture bride." And they, my grandfather was a foreman for a farm in Calexico that grew, I think it was grapefruits. So considering his position, I think the family was fairly okay. They're not, they weren't rich, they weren't really well off, but they were comfortable, especially with all those kids, and as a family I think they also helped a lot of the other immigrant Japanese that worked on the farm. My grandfather, I understood, had migrated, immigrated to Hawaii first, and I think he worked the sugar cane fields and then he came to California. This is, I don't have this really clear, but I think he came through Mexico, and he settled at a Catholic church and that's where he learned his English, is by reading the Bible.

TI: And do you know about what year, around when?

PJH: Oh gosh, the early 1900s. Yeah.

TI: Okay. And was the sense that he came through Mexico because he couldn't come straight to California? Was that the sense, or do you have any reason why Mexico?

PJH: I really don't know. I don't know if it was work that was taking him that direction or what, but yeah, I don't. That's kind of...

TI: And then, and then, interesting, then he learned English at a Catholic church or Catholic --

PJH: Yes, he was kind of the bell boy and I think that's where he was getting, like, room and board.

TI: And so did he become a Catholic or a Christian?

PJH: Yes, he did. He became a Catholic. That was kind of a --

TI: Was this like a Maryknoll?

PJH: Yes.

TI: Okay. And this was where in California?

PJH: Southern California, I'm not sure.

TI: Yeah, I know a little bit 'cause my mom was a Maryknoll, so I was raised Catholic because of the family connection.

PJH: Really?

TI: So it's always interesting, when people say Catholic, I say, "Well, Maryknoll?"

PJH: That -- oh, never mind. I'm very curious about that.

TI: Yeah. No, I, afterwards we can talk more. So during the, so let me go back, and what was your father's name?

PJH: Joe Nakanishi.

TI: And did he have a Japanese?

PJH: No.

TI: And how many siblings did your dad have?

PJH: Just one sister that was five years younger than he.

TI: Okay. And then your mother's name?

PJH: My mother, Alice. No Japanese middle name either.

TI: And she had nine siblings.

PJH: Yes.

TI: And where was she in the birth order?

PJH: Right, number five, right in the middle.

TI: Okay, so middle child. So you pair a middle child with a oldest or a, almost an only child, almost, in some ways, your dad, 'cause he was so much older than his sister. So during the war, what happened to your father, Joe? What was his experience?

PJH: The family was in San Luis Obispo and they were interned at, in Poston. He actually was able to leave the camp after, I'm not exactly sure, but maybe after a year or so. He was able to get work in Minnesota, kind of doing crop, crops up in Minnesota, Idaho, Wisconsin area.

TI: And he was, about how old was he? Like a, was he through high school at that point?

PJH: Let's see, yeah, he was finished with high school.

TI: Okay. And how about things like, was he ever drafted or anything like that?

PJH: No, but he was asked the question. My mom explains that he was a "No-No Boy," but not in terms of "no-no" of his allegiance, it was that he was the only boy, I think, and he could not automatically be drafted, was my understanding, but he asked, "Can I join the air force?" And he goes, they told him no, so he says, "Well no, I don't want to. I don't want to get drafted." [Laughs]

TI: So what happened to him?

PJH: He was, he stayed in camp until he got, he went out to work.

TI: Okay, so they allowed him to, on a work leave, to leave camp?

PJH: Yes.

TI: And then, and then from there, what, the war ended when he was outside of camp?

PJH: Yes. He was in Minneapolis by the time my mother also left camp.

TI: But, but... it'd be interesting to do more research because, so he didn't want to serve, but you just can't say, "I don't want to serve." There must've been some kind of process that he went through. I'm curious what he did.

PJH: Yeah, my dad passed away in 1975, so that was kind of like, about the time where I was trying to collect information, but my parents were elsewhere.

<End Segment 2> - Copyright © 2011 Densho. All Rights Reserved.