<Begin Segment 3>

TI: So your, so your mother's uncle was also impressed with your father.

FC: Yes.

TI: I mean, for him to want his niece to marry this man...

FC: Niece to, yeah, it was a mutual connection.

TI: And did your father, I'm curious, did he convert to Christianity?

FC: Yes.

TI: Okay, so your mother's uncle was able to convince him to become a Christian.

FC: Yeah. I think he was attached to some ministers that eventually formed the Christian church that was in, like on Twenty-First Street and San Pedro in Los Angeles, 'cause that minister was also very prominent in my folks' early life.

TI: Now, do you know his name?

FC: He was Reverend Kubota.

TI: Kubota. Okay.

FC: And then later on it was Reverend Unoura.

TI: I'm sorry, he changed his name?

FC: No, it was another associate.

TI: Another one. But Reverend Kubota was your mother's uncle?

FC: No, no. Reverend, my mother's uncle was Mr. Takei. I don't know what his first name was. He was always Takei no ojisan.

TI: And I'm sorry, Reverend Kubota, what was his relationship again? He was just the minister?

FC: He was the pastor of this particular Christian, little Christian church, and then his associate later became Reverend Unoura. And they, they were sort of the nucleus of the West Adams Christian Church of today in Los Angeles.

TI: Got it. Okay, good. So your mother's uncle, Mr. Takei, sort of is the go-between.

FC: Yes. Wrote home.

TI: And very impressed with this young man and wants his niece to marry. So how did he do that?

FC: I think at that point there were several nieces in Japan, so he's not necessarily picking my mother. He's writing home and saying, I met this very, very wonderful man. He's got a good future, so I want one of the nieces to consider marrying him. So that's, I think my mother heard about it and she wanted to go to the U.S. Now my mother's side is also interesting 'cause she was a graduate of jogakkou, which is like a junior college or a teachers college, and she won a scholarship by applying for a scholarship in Fukuoka ken and was admitted to this college and had completed two years and was now, like, apprenticed as a bookkeeper to a company that another uncle was involved with in Osaka, or Kobe, someplace. Anyways, it was not in Fukuoka. She was there learning to be a bookkeeper for this cotton company. And so, but then she decided she wants to go to the United States and marry this man.

TI: Based on this letter from her uncle?

FC: Yes. And my, her parents apparently were furious with her 'cause she was on this career path and were looking forward to having her work and find a nice husband. But she was determined and she said no, she wanted to go to the United States. And those days the Issei parents, the Isseis' parents in Japan had a certificate of approval of the marriage, even if these folks were of age, they still, Japan was very proper and wanted to make sure that families were not, kids were not running away from their family. So, but the parents refused to sign this, and she was so determined she took the form and took the train to look up my father's relatives that she had never met to this country town in Yame in Japan and asked the older brother to sign this certificate for her, which he of course did 'cause it didn't mean anything to him. And so that's how she came to the United States. She had to, she broke this contract for training and she says she had to pay back the money that they had given her while she was in training, and she went to that degree and left to come to the United States.

TI: That sounds pretty remarkable for someone to, to...

FC: Yes. Yes, it's incredible.

TI: Now what was your mother's name?

FC: Her name was Kikuno Takei.

TI: And yeah, very headstrong.

FC: [Laughs] Yes.

TI: To defy her parents, to break the contract.

FC: And I think for a long time she must've regretted it because it was so difficult, life in the U.S.

<End Segment 3> - Copyright © 2011 Densho. All Rights Reserved.