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TI: Spady, I'm going to start, and let's start with your parents and why don't you talk a little bit about your parents, where they came from in Japan and tell us a little bit about that first.

SK: My father was born and raised in Okayama prefecture, which is right next to Hiroshima, and my mother was raised in a town next to my father's and how they got together, I, I have no idea. But they both came to the United States, well, shortly after 1900s, I suppose, and probably around 1910, I think. Because I was born in 1917 and my older brother was born 1915 or '14, and he wound up working for the Great Northern Railroad while my mother was running a hotel, which was common practice in those days among the Issei. In order to cut corners, they usually ran a small hotel.

TI: Okay, before we get to your mother, when they came to the United States, where did they end up living in the United States?

SK: Well, first my, my father was assigned to a small town north of Spokane, so naturally we all lived in this Ferry County which is northwest of Spokane County. And then he was transferred down south toward Spokane at a place called, to a place called Deer Park, which is only about twenty-five miles or thirty miles north of Spokane. And there he suffered a ruptured appendix, appendicitis, fatal in those days, and he perished. He died when I was five. And Mother had five children to raise. So she kept the oldest son with her, my older brother and sent two sons, myself and my brother, and two sisters -- four of us -- to Japan to live with four different relatives. Four different locations.

TI: And going back, you were only five years old when your, your father died. Do you have any memories of your father?

SK: None whatsoever. No memory of him.

TI: Okay, so, after your father died of the ruptured appendix, four of you were sent to Japan. Was that a pretty common thing? Do you know of any other cases where the Japanese families...

SK: Yes, I know of several other cases because there was no one else to turn to here in the States, and not being familiar with the way the welfare system works, they only relied among people they knew. And so Mother thought that the best thing to do is to send four of us to Japan to live with relatives, so that she could cope, continue to live here with one son. My older brother.

TI: So the oldest, your older sibling, your older brother stayed in Spokane --

SK: Right.

TI: -- or Eastern Washington and the four of you went. Where did the four of you go? Were you sent all together to one place or...?

SK: No, no, no. Four different relatives in four locations. Like I wound up in a place called Ashimori. It's now a city, the city of Ashimori. (A-s-h-i-m-o-r-i), Ashimori. And my brother wound up in a place called Takamatsu, which is the next town, and my younger sister was in Kobe, in Hyogo prefecture. And my sister was, was in Osaka. So then we were physically separated, except my brother and I were the, physically the closest. All I had to do was just walk over a couple of hills and mountains and there I am in his hometown. And that's where his, our grandparents lived. And he was raised by the grandparents. And he even, even took their name so that they would have a direct heir, I suppose. So my younger brother's name is Migaki and not Koyama, you see. Common practice in Japan.

TI: And before you get too far on, what, what were the, the names, first names of, of your siblings?

SK: My older brother was named Fumito, Fumihito. And I was named Ayahito, or Ayato. And my younger brother, Emito or Emihito, and my sister was Toshiko and my younger sister Hideko.

TI: Okay, good.

<End Segment 1> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.