<Begin Segment 13>

[Translated from Japanese]

NM: When did you have a wedding ceremony?

TF: He took a vacation and came back again about one week later. The first place we went to in Kasuga village was...

NM: He went back to Tokyo and came back again?

TF: Yes. He went to Okinawa and came back.

NM: Oh, he went to Okinawa and came back to Fukuoka before he left for Okinoerabu Island?

We went to Okinoerabu and came back to my village on the following day.

NM: Back to Kasuga village. [Laughs]

TF: Back again. [Laughs]

NM: You were ready to get married then.

TF: We went to a church. Mike is a Catholic and a church wedding was something he wanted.

NM: I see.

TF: We could live together before getting married but just like a brother and sister. It was very strict those days.

NM: Catholic has especially strict rules.

TF: We went to a church first and asked if they could marry us.

NM: Was it in Fukuoka city?

TF: Not in Fukuoka. It was in Kasuga village.

NM: Kasuga village had a church?

TF: There was a Catholic church as the military had a main office there. I think that's why. We talked to the pastor. He said his church needed to honor the military regulations even in Japan. He told us that we were not able to have a wedding ceremony there. He said he was not supposed to tell us but wanted to secretly give us advice. [Laughs] He told us to have a Shinto wedding. I am Japanese, and it should be recognized as official marriage everywhere in Japan. We should be able to live together.

NM: I see.

TF: The pastor was not supposed to tell us that. [Laughs] He understood our situation and offered a suggestion. We decided to go to a shrine to have a wedding and sent a telegram to my elder sister right away. We asked her to attend the ceremony. She was the eldest sister and knowledgeable and open-minded. We waited and waited, but she didn't show up. We gave up and decided to go by ourselves. We went to Kushida Shrine, very well-known one, and asked them if they could marry us. They agreed, and we got married there on that day.

NM: Got married right then and there?

TF: On that day.

NM: Was it an official Shinto wedding?

TF: Just like that.

NM: Did anyone else in your family know about the wedding?

TF: My elder sister couldn't attend the ceremony after all. There was another person with the same name, and the telegram was delivered to that person.

NM: Your telegram.

TF: Yes. That lady didn't know what it was all about. She realized what had happened on the following day and went to my sister, but it was too late, wasn't it?

NM: Sure.

TF: Wedding took place on the previous day.

NM: No one knew about the wedding except for your sister.

TF: No one came. We didn't have time.

NM: [Laughs] You were in a hurry to get married.

TF: The pastor gave us advice, and we just rushed to follow the advice.

NM: You ran to the shrine. [Laughs]

TF: Right away.

NM: You didn't tell your mother.

TF: She would have fainted if I had told her.

NM: You didn't tell anyone, just sent a telegram to your sister, your sister missed it, and you had your wedding by yourselves.

TF: I was assuming my sister would bring my mother with her, and I sent her a telegram to ask her. She didn't receive it in time.

NM: So you were on your own.

TF: Just two of us went to the shrine.

NM: Did the shrine issue some sort of certificate after the wedding?

TF: They did. They issued a document. They issued a certificate to prove our marriage. I was keeping it as an important document, but we ended up losing it. Mike had to leave the base due to an emergency later, and they did not send our documents we left behind back to us.

NM: It was lost. Were you to bring the certificate to the municipal office?

TF: We didn't even think about government office.

NM: The certificate was all you needed for your marriage?

TF: Yes. That was what Mike needed. We didn't think about what to do next.

NM: Did you go back to your house to tell your mother after you received the certificate?

TF: Told my mother, put the certificate on the family shrine and told her that I was leaving home and going to Okinoerabu Island on the following day.

NM: Oh. Was she surprised?

TF: Well. [Laughs] She didn't bother. [Laughs] She had been warned.

<End Segment 13> - Copyright © 2016 Densho. All Rights Reserved.