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SY: And then tell me a little bit about your family then.

MK: I'm the third of six children. I have two older sisters and then me and then a brother, sister, brother. So we all grew up in the Baldwin Park, Covina area, went to school there.

SY: And so how many of you were born before the war?

MK: We were all born.

SY: All born before the war.

MK: Right.

SY: Now I understand so your two older sisters and you were the third girl, right. And your two older sisters have Japanese names, right?

MK: Yes, Sachi and Aki.

SY: I'm wondering why they named you Mary?

MK: I think they said that the doctor named me.

SY: The doctor named you, really?

MK: Because after that everyone had English (names), George, Dorothy and Paul.

SY: They all had American names. I see, so there was a point at which they changed over. You said you were born in Covina.

MK: Baldwin Park.

SY: Baldwin Park.

MK: We lived in Covina but I guess the hospital must have been in Baldwin Park. My birth certificate says Baldwin Park.

SY: I see, and what year was that that you were born?

MK: 1924.

SY: Okay, so you and your oldest sister was how much older than you?

MK: She was about five years older than I.

SY: Okay, and was it unusual for a Japanese family at that time to have so many kids? Do you know?

MK: Oh, no, I think all of our family friends all had five or six children at that time.

SY: Wow.

MK: And always hoping for boys 'cause they're working on the farm, they wanted to have boys.

SY: Just for that reason.

MK: I'm sure my dad probably must have been very disappointed when three girls came right off the bat. [Laughs]

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