<Begin Segment 19>

[Translated from Japanese]

NM: It is getting close to the end, and I would like to ask you about your leadership to Japan related groups. Was it International Marriage...

TF: The first one is Kisaragi Kai. A local women's association.

NM: It is for Japanese women?

TF: The first group consisted of members at our age. Tokyo is like Washington, D.C. and quite a melting pot instead of a hometown. They didn't have a kenjinkai prefectural association. Tokyo people were sad about it. Some other prefectures have their own group to get together for a new year celebration. I heard the group was originally formed as Tokyo association. People from Tokyo got together first, and they were trying to come up with a name for the group. Other people heard about it. They were not invited to join other prefectural associations like Ehime Kenjinkai or Hiroshima and didn't belong to any group. More and more people wanted to join. They decided to form a group for everyone and named it Kisaragi Kai in February.

NM: Was it founded in Seattle?

TF: In Seattle.

NM: What year was it?

TF: Let me see. It started in 1976.

NM: Were the members spouses of American soldiers?

TF: Some were. Some came over with scholarships. They were almost the same age.

NM: They were the same age and all from Japan.

TF: They got together and started the group to help and support each other. I joined the group ten years after it was founded. It was 1986. It started in 1976. Ten years after. Another woman lived in my neighborhood, and we both decided to check it out. I was not really outgoing and not sure if I wanted to join, but we both did. That is when I started to associate with other Japanese people.

NM: I see.

TF: I rushed to buy a rice cooker and hot water dispenser. [Laughs] That was the beginning of my Japanese food cooking with rice.

NM: What type of activities did the group work on?

TF: I became a vice chairperson two years after. I had been thinking about how the group was to operate. I joined the group when the founder retired after serving for ten years. I knew there was another group, and they were visiting residents at the Keiro nursing home. I thought that type of volunteerism would be a good fit for our group and suggested creating kimono uniforms for the members. I brought up the idea at a meeting, and that is how we started.

NM: That was the beginning of your volunteer activities.

TF: Yes. We started to visit the residents at Keiro to help with various activities. One of the members was a licensed hair dresser. We came up with the idea of opening a makeshift hair salon. The facility already had a professional hair dresser coming once a month, but we launched our hair dressing services once a week. I was also taking a Japanese folk song class and decided to bring the class members for a visit to perform on Father's Day. The other group was visiting on Mother's Day, and I was trying not to create any friction. We were honoring what was already there and quietly joining them through a different channel. There was a lady born in Meiji era named Yukiko Nakamura. She was the leader of Meiji Kai and a recipient of an outstanding performance award from the Japanese government. I went to meet with her to find out what our group could do to help. I heard another member from our group had previously visited her and asked her what we could do. It sounds like the inquiry struck her as too aggressive, and she declined the offer to help. [Laughs] I asked her if she would be interested in making arrangement for our group to visit [Keiro] on Father's Day. She was very pleased with the request. She helped us since then until she passed away. She always came to be our emcee. When she was too frail to do it, she found someone else to take over. That was a great bridge for us to get involved in the Japanese American community.

NM: Your efforts worked out. [Laughs]

TF: I was saying the previous members had done it all wrong. We were all energetic and enthusiastic, and I believe we were a driving force to cultivate deeper understanding [of the Japanese culture].

NM: Is the group still active?

TF: Yes, it is. We rarely volunteer though. Many of us are unable to drive and have a hard time getting around with some physical issues. This is our turn to be looked after. [Laughs]

<End Segment 19> - Copyright © 2016 Densho. All Rights Reserved.