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TI: Let's go back to your father, and do you know why he came to America?

CH: You know, I thought of that, too, because I really don't know. But he did talk that when he first came to America, he ended up at the Vashon strawberry farm, and it was... it seemed like there must have been a recruit for labor.

TI: So like contract laborers.

CH: Contract labor, and somebody contracted it, and a bunch of men came. And he was, he ended up in Washington, evidently. But it was just pouring rain every day, and he had to go out. I mean, they made him go out and pick strawberries, and so he said he got, I guess he got pneumonia, he got sick. And because he got sick, he decided this isn't the place he wanted to stay. And his brother was already in Loomis, California, or they called it Folsom. I think at one time there were a bunch of men working on a farm in Folsom, California, and my uncle was one of them. That's where my dad decided to go and join him.

TI: Now with contract laborers, sometimes they had to work a certain amount.

CH: They had to work a certain time, yeah. So he and, I don't know just how long he stayed, because he said that he got on, he quit and he got on a train, and instead of getting off in Sacramento, he went on and ended up in Reno. So then he had to turn around... now, I don't know how they communicated in those days.

TI: So he essentially missed his stop.

CH: Yeah, missed the stop in Sacramento. And I always wonder how they communicated, you know. I'm sure my uncle was waiting for him, and it takes days to get there, it was horse and buggy, to get to Sacramento. So I just wonder if my uncle had to stay overnight and wait around, or how they communicated, I don't know. But anyway --

TI: Well, before we go to Loomis, going back to Vashon Island, because I know the folks on Vashon Island are trying to get as much information about the Japanese workers...

CH: Oh, is that right?

TI: Do you recall any other stories about Vashon? Like do you know which family you picked berries with?

CH: I have no idea of Vashon. All I know is they ended up in a strawberry farm. And it was time for harvest, but he just, it was just pouring rain, and it was just cold, he got a cold and was sick. And I don't think he brought that many clothes, because it's all Japanese clothes there, that he wore. So I'm sure that he had a hard time. [Laughs]

TI: Did he ever talk about maybe how many other workers were there that came with him?

CH: No, he didn't say. I mean, this is just vaguely, I could kind of remember him talking, but I don't hear him say if he came with a contractor, or whether there were a bunch of men or anything. He just said that it was cold. And so he went to, he looked up... I mean, he let his brother know that he wanted to join him.

TI: And this was his older brother?

CH: Uh-huh, older brother.

TI: And how many other brothers or siblings did your father have?

CH: All I know is he had only that one. And it sounded like he was, he came over again with a kind of contractor, I mean, men working together.

TI: Well, it's interesting to me that it'd be, I guess, your grandparents, that both their sons, they would send to America, that usually maybe I've heard that maybe one son will stay and one son will go.

CH: Yeah, uh-huh. I don't know if they had any more at home or not, but... you know, I never did know too much about their family in Japan, other than I know they're farmers. They never said too much except for the two boys being over here.

Off camera: I've heard the name Sasaki was not really their family name.

CH: I don't know about that. It could be, I mean, it might have been something else.

Off camera: They took Sasaki because the family didn't have sons.

TI: So it's like a youshi.

CH: Youshi, that's very common, in those days. It could be. Gosh, I can't remember that at all.

[Interruption]

TI: Okay, so we'll get started again. So your father takes a train, misses the Loomis stop, goes to...

CH: Reno.

TI: Reno, comes back, and then his brother picks him up.

CH: Picks him up.

TI: So what did he do in Loomis? What kind of work did he do?

CH: Oh, he worked in... sounded like he worked... you know, like the contractor type of thing in an orchard.

TI: So just like a farm laborer?

CH: Farm laborer, oh, yeah, just farm laborer, do whatever they tell you to do. And they lived in tents, all kinds. So when they called, when he called my mother to come over, I mean, he wanted to get married, and so, well, my mother thought America would be a nice place to go, and he's got a job. And so she came over, and then found out that they were living in a tent. [Laughs] And she was so disappointed.

TI: So she was disappointed. Now, when you said he lived in a tent, was it because...

CH: A canvas tent.

TI: So did they move around? Was it like a migrant, like a migrant worker?

CH: Uh-huh. So if they were, you know, job with another farmer over there, then they moved over there.

TI: And he would do it with his brother or with a group of men?

CH: Well, this is... the first part of, I believe it was a group of men. Because he always talks about... and there was a certain bunch of them that I know of, and these are families that were established. When they ended up in Loomis, California, evidently some Methodist minister had gotten hold of them and tried to teach them Christianity. And so they were, they started up a church, this is for Japanese, because they didn't read and write English. And so it was a Japanese church, and the foundation, I mean, the people that started that church are all the old-timers, Loomis people. So my dad and his brother, uncle, and there was a Nitta family, and there was... I can't think of the names right now. But they were all people that, they have families and then the kids, we all grew up together.

TI: So when you said started, so did they donate money to build a church?

CH: Church, uh-huh. They worked hard to get that church going. Because in those days, labor... I don't know how much they got paid, but not very much, I'm sure.

TI: So in my notes I have that your father, when he went to Vashon Island, that was about 1906?

CH: 1906 is when they...

TI: Immigrated.

CH: I should have brought over...

<End Segment 4> - Copyright © 2014 Densho. All Rights Reserved.