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MN: Tuesday, March 20, 2012. We will be interviewing Takuzo Dave Maruya at his Gardena home. We have Ann Kaneko on videotape, videocamera, I'm sorry, and I will be interviewing, I'm Martha Nakagawa. So, Dave, I wanted to start with, what is your father's name?

DM: Father's name was Shiro.

MN: Shiro?

DM: Shiro.

MN: And which prefecture is he from?

DM: Kanazawa Prefecture.

MN: Kanazawa?

DM: No, I'm sorry. It's Ishikawa Prefecture.

MN: Can you share a little bit about what your father's early life was like?

DM: I understand he was orphaned at an early age, and he served in the Japanese army during the Japanese-Russian War, where he had a leg injury which crippled him the rest of his life.

MN: And do you know when he came to the United States?

DM: My parents came, immigrated to the U.S. in 1909 or '10, something around there.

[Interruption]

MN: So is it your father who came here in 1909?

DM: Yes.

MN: He came by himself?

DM: I think so. My mother came later, a year later.

MN: And so they got married in Japan or did they get married here?

DM: They were married, I think.

MN: What is your mother's name?

DM: Her first name was Hatsune.

MN: And her maiden name?

DM: Matsumoto.

MN: And what prefecture is she from?

DM: The same prefecture.

MN: Ishikawa-ken.

DM: Yes.

MN: Do you know anything about your mother's early life in Japan?

DM: No, only that her ancestors were descendants from samurai in those days, so they were prominent people in the town.

MN: So in total, how many children did your parents have?

DM: Five.

MN: Is that including the sister that passed away?

DM: That'd be two, three... no, it'd be six, I'm sorry. Three girls and two boys, three boys.

MN: And where are you in the sibling hierarchy?

DM: I'm the oldest son.

MN: Oldest son, but child number...

DM: Three.

MN: And where were all your siblings and yourself born?

DM: The eldest, Junko, was born in Brawley, the next was Yoshiko, born in Japan, then I came, born in Brawley, and Al Soto, the next brother, was born in Japan, and George was born in Brawley as well as Mey, the youngest.

MN: And what year were you born?

DM: 1920.

MN: And what is your birth name?

DM: Takuzo.

MN: But everybody calls you Dave now. When did you pick that up?

DM: I'll come to that if you want, later.

MN: Oh, later? Okay, let's talk about it later then. So what is the first language that you learned?

DM: English.

MN: English?

DM: Well, I was talking to the parents, as a toddler I imagine it was Japanese.

MN: So at home you talked to your parents in Japanese?

DM: Until I learned English.

<End Segment 1> - Copyright © 2012 Densho. All Rights Reserved.