<Begin Segment 7>

TI: Now for you, you had no memories of your mother or father because you were so little. So when you come to United States, what was it like to meet your father and mother for the first time?

TU: Well, before that, my uncle that's my father's younger brother lived in Berkeley. So what happened was my father took us to our uncle's house and I met his wife, and I thought she was my mother. But it wasn't until we got back to Loomis, to farm number one, that I met my mother for the first time since she left us in Japan.

TI: Okay, and you are now about five, six years old. What were your first impressions? When you get reacquainted with your mother who you didn't remember or anything, what was that like? What were your first impressions?

TU: Well, as I remember, it was a happy time. And I think we used to say, "Well, you take care of my father when he gets old, I'll take care of Mom." Talked, things like that we talked about.

TI: So explain that again. It was kind of like you would take care of your mother and Gene would take care of your father?

TU: Yeah, some other guys take care of the father because I like my mother. [Laughs]

TI: Oh, you said that. Okay, so you were fond of your mother, so you said you would take care of her, and "the rest of you take care of Dad."

TU: You know, as children, I think there might have been conversation like that in other families also, that they take care of you now, but further on down the line when they get older, somebody has to take care of the parents, so we share the burden. That was a big talk. [Laughs]

TI: But it says to me that there was something about your mother that you were fond of. And so what was it? Tell me a little bit about your mother that made you so fond of her?

TU: Well, it developed over the years. She was a Christian, and she used to read Bible stories to me. And she would explain it so that we could understand it a little bit better than just reading the Bible. And I think that kind of seeped into me. But I had my difficulties with her, but initially, things were okay.

TI: So you mentioned that she read the Bible, she was Christian. Do you know how she became a Christian or when she became a Christian? Was this back in Japan or did she become a Christian when she was in Loomis?

TU: It was in Loomis. I don't know which farm it was, either farm number one or two, I forget. But Sunday evening they used to drive the Model T Ford into Sacramento and attend a Salvation Army meeting. And there was a Reverend Matsushima who was very influential. And when my folks got into arguments, sometimes he would come and arbitrate or try to smooth things over. So there was that kind of connection that my folks had with Reverend Matsushima.

TI: And was he the one who got your mother and, I guess, father into Christianity?

TU: Yeah. So she got her start as a Salvation Army member, and then of course turned into Methodist church later on. Loomis had a Methodist church.

TI: When you say Salvation Army, I have this image of the musical Guys and Dolls, and they have the Salvation Army, and they do a lot of preaching in the streets?

TU: Exactly.

TI: And so that's similar?

TU: Exactly.

TI: And this was a Japanese...

TU: Yeah, Reverend Matsushima would be talking in the middle of the street in Japantown in Sacramento.

TI: And he would be talking in Japanese?

TU: Yeah.

TI: And kind of preaching on the corner?

TU: Yes, he's trying to save these single men, really, who might be spending all their money in some ungodly ways. So he would preach to them to try to get them into the Christian religion. But anyway...

TI: Oh, what a sight. Again, it's almost like from a movie, I can see someone doing that.

TU: Well, you have your Salvation Army cap and the uniform, maybe he looks impressive, but I always wondered what he's doing out in the streets there. [Laughs]

TI: But the interesting thing is he's preaching in Japanese about Christianity in the Salvation Army. So that's why it's so visual for me to think about that.

TU: Yeah, I don't know how much you know about Sacramento, but there was Fourth Street, Fourth and M Street, something like that. It was a conglomeration, grouping of Japanese businesses. And the Reverend Matsushima would be talking on the street corners to some of the stray old, or not so old, laborers.

TI: And when he did that, was there, like about how many people would be around him when he's talking?

TU: Oh, half a dozen or so, sometimes more, sometimes less. But he kept at it, and I admire him for his dedication.

TI: Now when you were there with your family, would they stop and listen? Or because they knew him, they didn't have to do it, or...

TU: Well, after that, they would have a meeting at the house, at his house. They had a pretty big room in the basement, and he would be preaching there to the congregation there.

TI: And so your family would go to those?

TU: Yeah. And in the meantime, I'm sleeping.

TI: [Laughs] Again, what a great story. But then Loomis, your mother would attend the Methodist church there.

TU: Later on, yes. She started going to the Methodist church there.

TI: Did she ever have a falling out with the Reverend?

TU: Matsushima? No, no. I don't know, just somehow they grew distant. But she was still in the Christian religion, yes.

TI: Good.

<End Segment 7> - Copyright © 2011 Densho. All Rights Reserved.