<Begin Segment 6>

SY: And were you... so very shortly thereafter you started school? Or you were in school...

CI: I was in school.

SY: At that time?

CI: Kindergarten.

SY: In Sacramento, the area where you lived was Japantown?

CI: Yes.

SY: So the school you went to, was it mostly other Japanese kids?

CI: I think it was predominately, it was Lincoln School, and it was predominately Japanese. I think there were some Chinese children, too, because I know that one time this Chinese girl had this badge on that "I am Chinese." I asked her why is she wearing that, and she didn't know why she was wearing that.

SY: That must have been close to wartime, do you remember?

CI: Well, this had to be about, oh, early '30s.

SY: Way early.

CI: But that's one thing I remember, so I know that there were some Chinese people going to that school.

SY: So when your stepfather, you started living with him, do you remember what he did?

CI: He was a labor contractor.

SY: Oh, he was the labor contractor?

CI: Yes.

SY: Oh, okay, I think you told me that. I'm sorry. And so he made a fairly good living, then?

CI: I don't know.

SY: That's a good answer. [Laughs] He managed to support you.

CI: Yes.

SY: You and your brother and then...

CI: But I know he was very... well, he had this personality. He was a very quiet man, but he was... his friends were very fond of him. He had a lot of young friends from Hawaii because he was born there in Hawaii but moved to Modesto. Anyway, all I can say is that he was very... not popular, but people were very fond of him because he was quiet and he listened to people and kind of fatherly.

SY: That's nice, since he took on a lot. He married someone with two kids, right?

CI: Yes, uh-huh.

SY: So of all of the five of you, you are the oldest, right?

CI: I am.

SY: You are the oldest. And your other siblings, are they still living?

CI: Except Gerald passed away about... I guess it's been about five years ago. He had leukemia and he passed away.

SY: But he was how old when he passed away, roughly?

CI: Oh, he had to about sixty, sixty-something.

SY: Now, I think you told me that your stepfather never talked about the fact that he was your stepfather.

CI: None of us ever talked about it. We just never talked about it, and so he was just Father to us.

SY: Did you know otherwise, though? Did you have any memory of having...

CI: We did. We had an inkling, so my brother Paul and I used to talk about this. But you know in the traditional Japanese family, anything that's not normal, people just don't talk about it. In our family anyway. And I think that's the way it was in most Japanese families. If it wasn't the norm, you didn't talk about it.

SY: So how did you in fact find out? Did you ever...

CI: We knew all along. So anyway, what brought it forward is because I think you need to show your birth certificate when you graduate from high school, or something. I needed it, anyway, so then I asked my mother, "I need my birth certificate." Not even thinking that, oh, it's going to be different. And then so she sent my Aunt Irene, who I was very close to, to say, "Well, Christie, I have something to tell you," and that's how it came about.

SY: So, in fact, your aunt was able to talk to you more intimately than your mother.

CI: Yes. But we already knew. So when I said that, "Oh, if it's about Daddy being our stepfather, Paul and I know about this already." And of course tears flowed.

SY: That's sweet.

CI: But that's what brought it up.

SY: So did your mom then really not talk to you about much in the way of personal things?

CI: Never. Well, personal... about her life in Japan she did. But that didn't touch on her marriage or anything. All I know is that he was from a good family in Japan. But that's about it.

SY: So she never really talked to you, or how did you find out that he died of cancer?

CI: Cancer of the stomach? Oh, later on.

SY: So somehow it came out.

CI: Yes, uh-huh. And she had some pictures of him which we all now have.

SY: That's nice. And how long did your mom live?

CI: Until she was ninety-one.

SY: Wow.

CI: And I can't remember exactly when she died, but it's been about, I'd say seven years ago or so.

<End Segment 6> - Copyright &copy; 2012 Densho. All Rights Reserved.