<Begin Segment 7>

TI: Let's go back to your parents a little bit. You described your father a little bit as being pretty sociable?

CH: Very outgoing. He's speaking English.

TI: His nickname was Taft.

CH: Taft.

TI: How about your mother? Just tell me a little bit about your mother?

CH: Typical Japanese woman, stay home and take care of the kids, and looked like my dad did everything.

TI: What about her personality, what was she like? Was she talkative?

CH: Well, I don't know. Do you remember Grandma? [Asking daughter]. She was very quiet... I mean, not quiet, but then she wasn't like my dad. I mean, my dad was more, his voice was loud.

TI: Well, let me ask you this question. So when you got in trouble, who disciplined you?

CH: My dad.

TI: And what would he do? So what would be an example of you doing something...

CH: Well, you know, if things are my fault, then the little kids can copy me, so I'd better straighten out. [Laughs]

TI: So would your dad just --

CH: I mean, he just talked to me. I don't think he's ever spanked me or anything like that. I don't recall being spanked. I've been scolded at. And my dad had a voice that was loud and scared the heck out of you.

TI: Well, how about your mother when she was displeased with you? What would she do? Would she just tell your father and he would scold you?

CH: [Laughs] I think so. But I don't think she ever... well, I think she yelled at me. I remember being yelled at for either not getting up in time. See, another thing, every spare moment we had to work. I mean that was... well, as we were growing up, I remember we liked to sleep in. My sister and I had one bed, and my two brothers had another bed, another bedroom, and like on Saturday mornings, my mother and dad were out there working early in the morning. And here we were still sound asleep, and I could hear my mother yelling, calling me from the packing house, which was about a block away. And I could hear her, and here we're still sleeping. [Laughs]

TI: And how early would that be, do you think, when she would call you? When you say you were sleeping in...

CH: Oh, I think like seven or eight o'clock.

TI: So still pretty early in the morning.

CH: Yeah, it's early in the morning. Maybe it was... well, it could be later, nine o'clock. But anyway, we got bawled out for, you know, just can't get up in the morning.

<End Segment 7> - Copyright © 2014 Densho. All Rights Reserved.