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MN: Okay, today is Wednesday, May 25, 2011. We are at the Woodfin Hotel at Emeryville, California. We will be interviewing Miyo Minnie Nakae Uratsu. We have in the room her husband, Marvin Uratsu, Dana Hoshide is on the video camera and I will be interviewing. My name is Martha Nakagawa. So Miyo-san, let's start with your father's name?

MU: Yoshichika, Yoshichika, Nakae.

MN: Nakae. And your mother's name?

MU: Tomeo Okui Nakae.

MN: And which prefecture were they from?

MU: Shiga-ken.

MN: I don't know a lot of people from that prefecture.

MU: No, I don't think there are too many.

MN: Do you know why your father came out to the United States?

MU: It was suggested I think by one of his teachers that he had where he was learning English to go to America and be a farmer. And I think the teacher had thought that it would be nice to have the young men from Japan go to America and I think to tie the two countries together closer. And that's how we felt the teacher had maybe suggested that to him. and it seemed like my father liked to do gardening, farming type of a thing. And so I guess that's what interested him into coming to America.

MN: Do you know if in Japan his family were farmers?

MU: No, his family was not a farmer, I don't know what his dad did. His mother had silk worms up in the attic, my mother had mentioned that when my mother was staying with them. But when my father would return from school, he seemed to like to go out to the field and so they sort of nicknamed him "Dirt farmer." I guess that's a term they used in those days. So he seemed to be interested in things growing.

MN: Do you know what year he came to the United States?

MU: No, I don't know that. I should have had that information for you.

MN: Do you know where he came, his port of entry? Was it Seattle, San Francisco?

MU: That I don't know.

MN: But somehow he ended up in the central California area.

MU: Northern, Newcastle.

MN: Newcastle. So that's considered northern California, not central California?

MU: I think that's considered northern California. It is north of Sacramento.

MN: And your father is very unique because he was an Issei but he was able to purchase property. Can you share with us how he was able to do that?

MU: I don't know where he got the money, he probably maybe had to ask friends to borrow some money because he was not able to call my mother right away so that's the reason my mother stayed with her mother-in-law, my father's mother. And in that house at that time she remembers this silk worm upstairs up in the attic and she helped her mother-in-law with that. And when he was financially able, he called my mother over.

MN: And what year did he purchase his property?

MU: If was before the alien land law which was I think 1913, so it could be very close to that time. He must have had foresight or maybe he heard that, what was going to be happening, so he wanted to purchase the land.

MN: Do you know how much he had to kind of bring together from loans and from his own money?

MU: I have no idea. I never asked.

MN: Do you know how much property he was able to purchase at that time?

MU: The ranch itself was fifty acres I think. He can verify it, Marvin, no?

MN: Does that sound right, Marvin, fifty acres?

Marvin Uratsu: Yeah, somewhere around there.

MN: That's a lot of property to purchase for a Issei back in those days. Do you know how your --

MU: Excuse me... I should have studied this before if I knew you're going to ask these questions I could've looked it over. It must have been twenty acres when I visualize the property there, fifty would be fifty football fields.

MN: That's still a lot.

MU: I think it was twenty.

MN: And do you know how... I know 'cause you were not born yet so I know it's a little hard for you to also answer these questions but do you know how he repaid the people who --

MU: No, I have no idea. I never asked.

MN: Do you know how long your mother had to stay with her mother-in-law's place before she was able to come to the United States?

MU: I don't know that.

<End Segment 1> - Copyright © 2011 Densho. All Rights Reserved.