<Begin Segment 2>

TI: Okay, so let's go to your father now, so tell me, first your father's name and then where, where he was from.

MB: Shigeru Yoshiwara, and he was from, I want to say Fukushima, but it was in the country of, countryside. Fukuoka.

TI: So Fukuoka.

MB: See, in Japan the first child, male child especially, inherits the property and thereafter they're on their own, and so my father never felt that he was gonna get hold, get any part of the farm, and so he along with many Japanese got on the ship and left for the unknown.

TI: And do you know about how old he was when he came on the ship? About how old was he when he came on the ship?

MB: Oh, must've been about eighteen, nineteen. Yeah. Didn't speak English and somehow managed to stay in a rooming house in San Francisco and then got a job, I guess, hoeing or something in the country there. Probably came looking for, you know, but he did say that on the streetcar he was hit by a white kid and the streetcar conductor just turned around and looked the other way and didn't try to stop the other kid from continuing the onslaught.

TI: And when he tells that story, was he hit just because he was Japanese?

MB: Was he...

TI: Why did the white boy hit your father?

MB: I guess so, (because he was Japanese). There were too many coming from abroad and, you know, maybe taking away jobs or whatever.

TI: So how did your father meet your mother?

MB: They knew each other in Japan. I think they're distant, they were distantly related. I'm sure my mother's family was against it. She came from a reasonably comfortable life. Her, they were like, I don't know, fifteen generations of doctors, doctors who made home visits on the horse and so forth. And I remember going there when I was five, going out to the ocean clam digging, and we got clams and ate the clams, washed the shells, and my uncle used the shells to put burn medicine. That was the pill box.

TI: And this was in Japan that happened?

MB: Right. Back in the '30s.

TI: Interesting. And so did your father send for your mother and she came to San Francisco? Is that how that worked?

MB: Right.

TI: Okay. And you said that your mother's family wasn't excited about that.

MB: No, knew that it would be difficult life, hardship, hard work.

TI: And what was your mother's name?

MB: Ei, E-I. I can't remember her maiden name.

TI: That's okay. And kind of the same, Fukuoka, same area?

MB: Yeah.

TI: While we're talking about your parents, why don't you tell me a little bit about them? First your father, what kind of man was he? What was his personality?

MB: Well, he was a pretty strict father, using his hand for punishment was not, it was common.

TI: And so that was like a little spank or something, something like that?

MB: Yeah.

TI: So he was strict, yeah?

MB: Very strict, and I guess that's how they all disciplined kids, using manual discipline.

TI: And how about your mother? How would you describe your mother's personality?

MB: Quiet and well-liked, very ladylike and people respected her. She was not a gossiper or... and stuck to her home. In the summertime the women would go out to the Matsuokas', sitting under that huge pine tree 'cause it was cool, sit on the lawn, but she was always sewing away, very industrious. And I mean, had to support, he wasn't getting very, I don't know how much he was getting at the Japanese Association, but not much, so she had to help with the support and she sewed for other people, maybe like fifteen, twenty cents for a dress or whatever. And she also sewed shirts for these Filipino laborers 'cause they had no female or didn't, they hadn't come, the females hadn't come over yet from the Philippines and they were just single men. It was just sad for them.

TI: And so this was all in Walnut Grove?

MB: Uh-huh.

TI: And when did your parents go to Walnut Grove? I mean, so they're, earlier you talked about your father being in San Francisco.

MB: Yeah.

TI: How did he get to Walnut Grove?

MB: I'm not sure, but the census of nineteen, was it '20, showed he was there, so it must've been earlier than that with census every ten years.

TI: Okay.

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