<Begin Segment 6>

[Translated from Japanese]

NM: Let's go back to the end of the war. The war ended, and you graduated from the girls' school. What did you do next?

TF: I started helping at home.

NM: You worked at home.

TF: I didn't have any particular jobs, but we had a lot of things to take care of as a farming family.

NM: Of course.

TF: I was helping my mother.

NM: Did you have any occasions to see U.S. soldiers?

TF: No, not at all.

NM: You just knew they were there. You met your future husband a bit later. When did you meet him for the first time?

TF: It was in 1956, I think.

NM: In 1956. That was after the occupation was lifted.

TF: After that, and it was after the Korean War, wasn't it? Between the Korean War and Vietnam War? Was the Korean War over? I didn't have a lot to do with the wars. [Laughs] My friend used to own a dressmaking business near the base. I sometimes visited her and met another lady. She was married. Mike and his boss stopped by when I visited her place. I guess they just stopped by on the way to Fukuoka. That was when I saw him for the first time.

NM: Was the dressmaker married to a U.S. soldier?

TF: No, her husband was Japanese. The couple was running a dressmaking business. The lady was their customer.

NM: Oh, I see. The lady customer was married to a U.S. soldier.

TF: Yes.

NM: Were there many Japanese women married to U.S. soldiers?

TF: I don't quite know. [Laughs]

NM: [Laughs] You were quite distant. Was it the first time that you saw an American soldier?

TF: I had seen some of them on the street and on the train.

NM: Was it in Fukuoka city?

TF: Yes, it was in the city. Our area was pretty rural and far away from that.

NM: How far is it?

TF: It is six or seven train stations away from Fukuoka. It is located around here in the triangle surrounded by Ijiri, Zassho and Kasugahara. It was quite an excursion to go to Fukuoka.

NM: You would see many American soldiers in Fukuoka then.

TF: I think there were many of them.

NM: You would see many walking around. You happened to know someone married to a U.S. soldier. She was the dressmaker's friend.

TF: She was.

<End Segment 6> - Copyright © 2016 Densho. All Rights Reserved.