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TI: So let's talk a little bit about your father. Can you tell me his name and where he was from?

TT: He was Takeshi, that's all, Takeshi Yokoyama, and he was from Fukushima. And you want to know what he did?

TI: Yeah, and starting in Japan, do you know what his family did in Japan?

TT: No. That's the trouble, we didn't do those kind of things, we didn't think about all that.

TI: Or did you ever know why he decided to...

TT: To come over here? Just like everybody else, I guess.

TI: To kind of look for a job?

TT: Yah.

TI: Or economic reasons? So when he came to the United States, where did he go?

TT: I think they all came into San Francisco, they came in through that way.

TI: And then how did he get from San Francisco to Seattle?

TT: Well, I think that's what they were all doing, it was just an automatic thing.

TI: Oh, so he was planning to go to Seattle, but just went through San Francisco.

TT: Yah.

TI: I see. And what did he do early when he first came, do you know what kind of work he did?

TT: Well, he was a truck driver... not truck driver, because he had a passenger car, for Grand Union Laundry, and they were right down here on Main Street, between 12th and 14th. But he used to do the truck driving and just pick up laundry and deliver it. I don't think he did anything else, that's all I remember about him.

TI: And then... so let's go to your mother. How did your father and mother meet?

TT: As a "picture bride."

TI: And do you know who the go-between was?

TT: No, no, I don't. But she says she was tricked into it because she thought he was more professional or had more background, but he didn't. And he said something about he was into dentistry, so she expected him to be a dentist. And he said he couldn't stand looking into the mouths of people, so he didn't follow through on that. So he eventually just did whatever he wanted to and became a truck driver for that.

TI: And when you hear those stories, or when your mother was talking about those stories, did she ever express, like, frustration by being sort of tricked in that way?

TT: Yes, yes. She says, "He tricked me," you know. "Baka ni sareta," or something, you know.

TI: And what does that mean?

TT: You know, baka, "made a fool of her." Because she was a teacher, she was a Japanese school teacher in Japan. She went to normal school, and at seventeen she was teaching. So she was very smart, and then when she came over here, she became a Japanese school teacher. And you know, with us kids, I mean, she would listen to everything we said, so then she would learn Pig Latin and sign language and everything, and so the students couldn't get away with anything. And even one time, somebody said, "Danke schoen," or "danke schoen," and she said, "Oh, anta German natteru." And she said, "Oh my god, she knows German, too."

TI: And so did your mother speak English?

TT: Well, she knew enough English. And she would go to, I think they had English classes at Broadway or something, and she might have gone to that. But just listening to us.

TI: It sounds like she was pretty proficient.

TT: Yah. But listening to all four of us girls talking, she always listened to what we had to say.

TI: She sounds really interesting. I mean, so let's go back a little bit. So what was her name?

TT: Hideyo, H-I-D-E-Y-O, and maiden name, Doi, D-O-I.

TI: Okay. And where from Japan?

TT: Hiroshima.

TI: Hiroshima. And do you know what, with her education level, I'm curious, do you know what her family did in Japan?

TT: No.

TI: And what was the age difference between your mother and father?

TT: It's about twelve years.

TI: So you were just talking a little bit about your mother and how she would like to listen in to the conversations and pick up language and things. What was she like? What was her personality like?

TT: Well, she wasn't too open, she kept a lot of things to herself. And she never complimented us, that was one thing that Issei women did not do. She never said anything nice about us. And in fact, when I became a broker, she just told me why did I get a job like a man? And I said, "Because I enjoy it and I like to do it." But she said, "Doshita otoko-no shigoto shita?" But she wanted me to be a woman. [Laughs] And I was, but in her thoughts, I guess, she wanted me to be more lady-like.

TI: And was she like that with your siblings, your other sisters?

TT: I don't know. Well, see, after the war, my two older sisters were never home. I was home for quite a while, and so she knew more about me, and I was able to help her out and do different things. And so once thing that... you know, I enjoyed working, and she had a fit when I gave up the chance to go to college.

TI: Yeah, so we'll get to that later, we'll talk about that. Okay, so it sounds like your mother...

TT: Because she had the education, she thought that we should have it, too.

TI: Right, right. So we talked a little bit about your mother, how about your father? What was he like?

TT: Well, he was very casual, very... I don't know how you explain it, he was just a man. And he was happy to have the girls. He used to want a boy for one of his children, but he says, "Onna no ko ga yokatta," "Girls are better to have."

TI: Well, but he had so many, I mean, so in the family he had, surrounded by five women, four of his daughters and his wife.

TT: Yah. But especially when they got older, he said it was nice because women always come home, and boys don't come back.

TI: And personality-wise, did he ever go out with friends?

TT: They used to all drink, all his friends used to drink, so that's why my mother used to get mad. Because she used to make sake with the rice, which is her fault, she should never have made it if she didn't want him to have it. But they all enjoyed drinking it, it was just the rice sake that she would make. But you know, he'd drive the truck to deliver things, and what he would do, he might make short stops and come in to the house and drink. So nowadays I even hear of other people saying, "Oh yah, your father and my father used to be drinking buddies."

TI: Oh, interesting. And did you ever see him when he was out with his friends, and was he different than he was at home?

TT: No. That's one thing we never saw, you know, when they went out with other people. It's not like these days now.

<End Segment 2> - Copyright © 2015 Densho. All Rights Reserved.