<Begin Segment 1>

[Translated from Japanese]

NM: Today is June 14, 2016. We are at the Densho studio in Seattle, Washington. The narrator is Tsuchino Forrester.

TF: Yes.

NM: The interviewer is Naoko Magasis. The videographer is Dana Hoshide. Thank you for coming. I would like to start when you were born and move forward. Tsuchino Forrester is your name now. What is your birth name?

TF: It is Tsuchino Matsuo.

NM: Tsuchino Matsuo. Tsuchino is a beautiful name. You were saying it is spelled in katakana. Do you know where it came from?

TF: It came from advice from a fortune teller based on my birth date. People used to name their babies based on some sort of fortune telling back in those days in Japan. My father was told I was going to have a short life if I didn't have a name representing land and open field.

NM: Oh, dear.

TF: "Tsuchi, "soil," and "no," "field," was combined to be my given name.

NM: That's where it came from. It is such a pretty name filled with energy from nature. [Laughs]

TF: I didn't know the meaning of the name when I was a young child. I never saw anyone with a name like mine in my neighborhood. Girl's names usually had "yo" or "ko" at the end.

NM: They did.

TF: I was wondering why I ended up with such a weird name and was not happy about it. I heard about how the name was put together from my elder sister. Retrospectively, my parents' thoughts for me might be giving me a long life that I'm enjoying.

NM: You must be right.

TF: It makes me feel sentimental. [Laughs]

NM: It is such a nice name. [Laughs] Where were you born?

TF: The place was called Kasuga village. It is a city now.

NM: What prefecture it is?

TF: Fukuoka prefecture.

NM: Kasuga village in Fukuoka.

TF: Koizumi Koaza Shiromizu, Kasuga village, Fukuoka.

NM: Such a long address. [Laughs] Can I ask you when you were born?

TF: March 30th, Showa 6.

NM: What year is Showa 6?

TF: '31.

NM: 1931. I see.

TF: So, it's very simple. Three-thirty-thirty-one.

NM: Could you tell me about your village, Kasuga?

TF: Kasuga was very rural. All the families had been there for generations. Everyone knew everyone in the entire village. Whose children and how old and all. Someone will bring you home if you trip over something and fall. [Laughs] You cannot get lost. It was very quiet and peaceful.

NM: Everyone knows everyone.

TF: Yes.

NM: Did you have a lot of relatives in the village?

TF: The family kept branching out. Our ancestors had been there for a long time. My grandfather started a new family branch, and my father was second generation. He inherited the household, and the grandfather came with it. [Laughs]

NM: [Laughs] Can you tell us your parents' names?

TF: My father's name is Sakujuro, and my mother's name is Kiku.

NM: Do you have a lot of siblings?

TF: I do. People used to be encouraged to have as many children as they could in those days. [Laughs] They did not think about birth control. It was all naturally happening, and everyone had a lot of siblings.

<End Segment 1> - Copyright © 2016 Densho. All Rights Reserved.

<Begin Segment 2>

[Translated from Japanese]

NM: What was your family business?

TF: Our family owned farmland.

NM: It was a lot of land.

TF: It was.

NM: Your family members were working on the farm?

TF: Our family ran the farmland and worked on it. We also had helpers like a female house helper. She got up early in the morning to prepare meals and help my mother. A male laborer was helping in the field. We had nannies when the children were young.

NM: It sounds like a pretty big operation.

TF: Not quite that big.

NM: The farmland was pretty big.

TF: We were farmland owners and lived on the land.

NM: Is there anything the children were assigned to help with?

TF: No, nothing. All we needed to do is to play. [Laughs]

NM: [Laughs] I see. What did you grow in the farm?

TF: Mainly rice. We also grew wheat and colza in the winter after harvesting rice. Rice was the main type of produce. We also grew soybeans in an open field where irrigation water did not reach. I remember growing hemp too, to make paper and rope. I remember there was a hemp field.

NM: You had a variety of produce.

TF: We also had mulberry. We had a large barn to grow silkworms.

NM: Your family was also engaged in sericulture.

TF: Yes. I remember watching silkworms wiggling when I was a child.

NM: You did.

TF: I helped to feed them with mulberry leaves. I was always playing but sometimes helped when I chose to. [Laughs]

NM: So you were growing up in a nice environment with a lot of relatives around.

TF: I was.

NM: What was the first school you attended?

TF: It was Kasuga Jinjo Elementary School.

NM: Elementary school. Did it start with the first grade?

TF: Yes, it did.

NM: Was it a big school?

TF: It was the only school in the village.

NM: Did all the children in the village go to the same school?

TF: We did.

NM: So you knew everyone. All the children were like your relatives...

TF: Something like that.

NM: ...in the village. You probably never dreamed you would leave the village.

TF: [Laughs] I never did. I did not until I actually left.

NM: I see. Do you have any childhood memories you remember from where you grew up? Something you did or any social events in the village?

TF: The village, like any other, has special spots like a small forest surrounding a shrine and place for a guardian god. We had seasonal music and dance performances there and got together over a picnic on holidays. We had many events and gatherings. We visited those local spots with friends and always saw more kids hanging around there. We played hide-and-seek and running all over the village. [Laughs] I remember all the games like tossing marbles, running and kicking cans. We all played and sometime fought with each other. [Laughs]

NM: It sounds like you had very joyful childhood in a beautiful environment.

<End Segment 2> - Copyright © 2016 Densho. All Rights Reserved.

<Begin Segment 3>

[Translated from Japanese]

NM: I would like to ask you about when the war started. You were going to elementary school. How old were you when the Pearl Harbor bombing took place?

TF: I wonder how old I was. I'm not sure. [Laughs]

NM: It was in 1941.

TF: I was ten years old then.

NM: You were still in elementary school, right?

TF: That's right. I didn't understand what this war was all about. I was growing up in a small village.

NM: Do you remember when you heard the news?

TF: I remember that.

NM: But you didn't think something big was happening?

TF: I didn't.

NM: Do you remember how the adults around you reacted to the news?

TF: I don't think they talked about it a lot. I don't remember much.

NM: You didn't notice any sudden changes in your life right after the war started?

TF: I didn't notice any difference during the war either. We did not get a lot of meat, but people didn't eat a lot of meat anyway in rural areas. The war didn't really affect our lives. We used to have someone delivering fish to us on a bicycle every day. He didn't come as frequently after the war started. That's all I noticed.

NM: I see. You didn't suffer food shortages right after the war...

TF: Not right after, not all the way to the end of the war either. We had rice and vegetables from our farm and bought dried fish, like dried cod, and stored them in a special room. I remember we had it hanging. We also bought big bags of dried sardines. We stored them in hanging baskets.

NM: So you didn't experience any food shortages...

TF: Not any difficulties...

NM: ...during the war.

TF: Not at all.

NM: Your family owned farmland and was able to be self-sustaining.

TF: That's right.

NM: I heard people in cities experienced food shortages and visited farmers for some produce. Do you remember anyone coming to your family farm?

TF: It was after the war, probably two years after it ended. I think that was a middle school teacher. My father was already gone, and my mother was managing the household. We were still young and didn't know what was going on with the farm. The teacher came for help because they heard my mother was a chairperson of a women's club and known as a caring person. I remember my mother shared what we had and gave it to the teacher.

NM: That was about two years after the war.

TF: I think it was.

<End Segment 3> - Copyright © 2016 Densho. All Rights Reserved.

<Begin Segment 4>

[Translated from Japanese]

NM: Let's go back to the wartime. You mentioned your father was already gone. Did he pass away during the war?

TF: Let's see. He passed away on July 20th, about one month before the war ended.

NM: One month before?

TF: Yes.

NM: Did he die in battle?

TF: No, that's not how he died. My father was a leader and served as a chairperson of the neighborhood association. He was a leading a project for a mandatory produce sale to the government and talking to people in the village. He believed the project was crucial and convinced each villager to volunteer to save a portion of their produce for the government to purchase at a lower rate. Our family was the first to achieve the goal. He wanted to celebrate the achievement with the supporters and held a big party at our home. He also invited farm workers who were leasing his land. The workers brought some sake to as a thank-you gift for him. My father enjoyed sake, and they brought some for him. It turned out it was made with methyl alcohol, which was widely used those days. It was a chemical for industrial use. The toxic chemical was mixed in, but no one knew about it. They bought it somewhere in a nearby town and brought it as a gift. He drank it, and that was it. He didn't know what he was drinking or how toxic it was. He enjoyed drinking sake.

NM: I would imagine it was hard to find high-quality sake made by professional sake makers during the war.

TF: Everything was distributed by the government. He thought it was a nice gift to enjoy with his guests. The one who brought the gift also liked sake. Both he and my father passed away on the same day. The other people were not big drinkers. They quickly got sick and threw up. That's why they survived. Our family had a large silkworm room and storage. We were offering the space to host temporary classrooms. Schools were trying to relocate the classrooms to avoid massive casualties just in case they were targeted with air raids. School officials requested land owners in the area to offer empty rooms. Our family was no longer running sericulture and had a big nice room available. We hosted one class room in our storage and another three or so in the silkworm room. We had four or five classrooms.

NM: I see.

TF: The teacher was also invited, but he was not a drinker. He threw up and survived. That is how my father passed away.

NM: It must have been so difficult.

TF: I was a freshman at a girls' school. That is when my life changed forever.

NM: You lost your father, the head of the household, while the war was still going on.

TF: I did. His death did not trigger immediate changes. It forced my brother to leave his college of engineering and to take over the household though. My mother didn't think it was appropriate for me to pursue higher education while my male sibling was not. She was old-fashioned, and that was how she thought.

NM: So you were forced to leave your school because your brother did.

TF: I was told I was allowed [to graduate from the girls' school] but not allowed to go to higher education institutes. I didn't know how my mother felt. I heard about it from my teacher and my sister some time later. I was aware of the situation though. It was unusual to even attend the girls' school in those days. Nobody else did in the village.

NM: The girls' school you were attending, was that a middle school or high school?

TF: It was a high school equivalent. I could have received either a high school or girls' school diploma when I graduated. I received the girls' school diploma.

NM: Potential higher education for you would have been a university then?

TF: University or community college, if any. I think we had a community college thee. There was a technical school. It was like community college, and people attended the school to obtain teaching certificates.

NM: You graduated from the girls' school, but your path to higher education was blocked. Was that after the war?

TF: That's right.

NM: I see.

<End Segment 4> - Copyright © 2016 Densho. All Rights Reserved.

<Begin Segment 5>

[Translated from Japanese]

NM: As for the end of the war, there were radio broadcasts of the emperor declaring the end of the war. Do you remember that?

TF: That was when I suffered a tumor on my nose and was making many hospital visits. I was in bed at home. It was the Bon period, and my sisters and relatives were at home too. We were told there was to be an important announcement and were all lined up and listening to the radio. It was breaking up. The voice was breaking up. The language was also unfamiliar for us.

NM: I heard the broadcast was hard to decipher.

TF: Scratching noises were all we could hear. I was wondering what it was all about. I was assuming it was a kind of encouraging message to the people. [Laughs] We used to pass circulars with community notices and announcements around the neighborhood. That's how we found out the war was over. My father was saying we would lose the war way before it ended through.

NM: Few people dared to do it.

TF: He said this nation did not have enough resources and power, and that it was impossible to win the war. My mother always told him not to say that. He was expressing his honest opinions.

NM: He was a person of clear observation.

TF: I have a lot of respect for him.

NM: I assume people were not supposed to make negative comments in those days. He was courageous to say that. [Laughs] What was the reaction from the adults around you? How did they react?

TF: We had a notice circulating right away, meetings were held, and they decided to send women and children away.

NM: Why did they need to be evacuated?

TF: They were afraid that women and children could be kidnapped or raped.

NM: By U. S. and the Allied Powers soldiers?

TF: Right. Male villagers thought that would be the first thing that happens to us. They got together and identified safe spots in the mountains. They were talking about building log cabins and sending women and children to stay there. Male villagers would come back to the village at night and deliver food and other supplies to us.

NM: It didn't really happen? That was just a plan.

TF: It was just a plan. I remember we were packed up and getting ready to go. We didn't end up going anywhere after all. [Laughs]

NM: [Laughs] And no one came to attack you either.

TF: The change took place in no time. There was a big iron factory by the girls' school I was attending.

NM: Where is that?

TF: In Fukuoka. You mean the girls' school? It was Chikushi Girls High School in Zasshonokuma. It was the only one in the region. It was run and managed by the prefecture and pretty competitive to be admitted. There was a big iron factory on the same street. The Allied Forces took hold of the building right away, and U.S. soldiers swooped in. That happened very quickly. Our village was quite a distance. It would take about an hour to get there. People in that neighborhood might have been scared. We didn't see any of the soldiers. Days went by, but we had no idea what they looked like. We figured nothing would happen and decided we didn't need to be sent away.

NM: There was fear about U.S. soldiers at first. What was the education like during the war? Do you remember militaristic propaganda at school?

TF: We had very stoic physical education. I was not athletic and always trying to avoid it. [Laughs]

NM: How about propaganda against the U.S. and American people?

TF: We were taught songs to sing.

NM: What are the songs?

TF: "Red Ogre, Blue Ogre" and so on. American men are rather hairy, aren't they? Some of them are not though.

NM: The implication is that Americans are monsters.

TF: Yes.

NM: That was taught at school.

TF: At school.

NM: That's what you were told.

TF: Such ideas was introduced in rather natural fashion with songs. Military songs were very popular. We were brainwashed but not aware of that. I think that was the educational policy in those days.

NM: That's why people thought the Allied Forces would pose a danger, and women and children had to be sent away for safety.

TF: That's right.

NM: Was the relationship between local residents under the occupation and U.S. soldiers not quite friendly?

TF: We didn't have anything to do with them. We were pretty far away.

NM: There was a distance.

TF: We didn't even see them.

NM: No encounters?

TF: No.

NM: Was there a base? Was the iron factory their base?

TF: It is a Japanese base now. Another base was located in Kasugahara. Itatsuki had an airport, and Kasugahara had a combined base for the army and navy. It was huge, it used to be a horse racetrack. It was a big open space. They quickly put dome-shaped barracks there to establish the largest base in the region.

<End Segment 5> - Copyright © 2016 Densho. All Rights Reserved.

<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.

<Begin Segment 7>

[Translated from Japanese]

NM: Did you visit the dressmaker's shop?

TF: Yes, she was a friend of mine. She had the dressmaking shop by the base in Kasugahara. She probably had a lot of female customers.

NM: Did Michael and his boss happen to stop by there?

TF: That is not where they came. I met the lady when she visited the shop. She invited me over, and I went over to her house. Mike and his boss stopped by there on the way to Fukuoka. The husband probably had to come by for some reason.

NM: I see. That was in 1956.

TF: At the beginning of 1957.

NM: What was your first impression of him?

TF: I was ignoring him. [Laughs] I don't think we talked.

NM: You studied English at school.

TF: Just a little.

NM: Were you able to speak some English?

TF: I didn't really have to.

NM: So you didn't talk to each other at all?

TF: Right. He didn't say anything. I am not talkative with strangers either.

NM: Weren't you interested in him at all? [Laughs]

TF: I didn't even care if I was interested or not.

NM: You were not expecting to meet an American soldier there.

TF: I wasn't.

NM: It just happened.

TF: It did.

NM: Our director interviewed Michael last week. He said he fell in love with you head over heels at the first sight. [Laughs]

TF: [Laughs] Guys always say that, don't they?

NM: The admiration was not mutual. [Laughs] So you met each other there. How did you end up dating with each other?

TF: Mike and other fellow soldiers came out to the city just a few times a month. They were stationed at a radar base on the top of a remote mountain named Sefurisan. They worked at the base for a couple of weeks and took some days off to come down the mountain. They didn't need to. I guess they wanted to come down to the city to look around. They didn't get to come down very often. He send a message to me and asked me out when he came down.

NM: He sent you a message through his friend every time he came down the mountain. "Tsuchino, would you go on a date with me?"

TF: He sometimes asked me out.

NM: How did you feel?

TF: I didn't have any places I particularly wanted to visit. I didn't really want to go anywhere with him either. The first date was at a puppet show. Many different kinds of entertainers were invited to perform in rural areas in those days. We went on the first date when a puppet show was in town.

NM: Just two of you?

TF: That was a popular spot with many people coming to visit. I saw some women there too. That was our first date. I sometimes went to Fukuoka to see him after that.

NM: Did you see many couples of a Japanese woman and an American soldier then?

TF: I think there were quite a few around the base. My dressmaker friend opened her western-style dress shop because there were many customers. Her business seemed to be doing well.

NM: I see. So you started to go out together. Did your family in Kasuga village know you were dating an American soldier?

TF: I initially didn't tell them. [Laughs]

NM: [Laughs] Why didn't you? You thought they would...

TF: They would be upset.

NM: They would be opposed to the relationship?

TF: I didn't think we would have their blessing. My brother, no, my uncle rather. He was killed in action in Burma during the war. That didn't help either.

NM: I can see why.

TF: I was hesitant too.

NM: So you initially didn't tell anyone. [Laughs] You just saw him in Fukuoka. Did you communicate with each other in English?

TF: Yes, we managed to. We both had a dictionary and tried to talk to each other. I'm still amazed that we understood each other. It somehow worked.

<End Segment 7> - Copyright © 2016 Densho. All Rights Reserved.

<Begin Segment 8>

[Translated from Japanese]

NM: What was Michael's job?

TF: Radar. He had been always working in the radar section. Radar detector equipment.

NM: He was a technician there. How long were you going out with each other?

TF: He was talking about getting married only a few months after we started to go out. [Laughs] He went to his boss to ask him what he was required to do to move forward. Then he was immediately sent back [to the States]. We were together for six or seven months, and he still had more than one year to be stationed in Japan. But he was immediately sent back.

NM: I see. You were going out, and I heard you declined his proposal at first. [Laughs]

TF: I declined many times. [Laughs]

NM: Many times? [Laughs] What changed your mind?

TF: I changed my mind as I was listening to him talking about himself. The family has five boys, and his father had to leave his job as a mechanic when he developed an allergic reaction to the oil. It was a very good position at his grandfather's bus company, but he no longer could work there. The father worked whatever job he could find, but the family was financially struggling. His father wanted him to go to college as he is the eldest son. But he was stubborn, as he describes in his book, quit middle school when he reached the eligible age and joined the military. I don't know a lot of details. He told me he wanted to be a pilot. He was hoping that joining the navy could give him a chance to become a pilot, and that is why he joined the navy. But the physical test revealed he is color blind. It was a problem especially during the war as the disability could make a life or death difference. He realized he would not be a pilot. He took a test, was told he has an aptitude for engineering and sent to a radar equipment school. He found it very interesting and fulfilling. He told me that is how he ended up working as a radar technician. He also told me that he wanted to take advantage of the G.I. Bill and receive financial aid toward his tuition. He wanted to leave the military after serving for four years and go back to school. He had already received an equivalent of high school...

NM: High school diploma?

TF: Diploma. He had already received it. He was qualified to go to college. He was saying he was determined to be successful. I felt sorry for him. He was worried about his father and four siblings. He was worried his siblings might face some hardship. Mike might have told you, but his mother didn't have financial management skills at all. If you give her 100 dollars, she will spend 100 dollars. [Laughs] He told me he had to go to his grandmother to get some money for milk. I was thinking about his situation and felt sorry for him. My hope to go to school was also shut down by the family situation. I wanted him to achieve his goals for me. I think it was almost maternal love. [Laughs]

NM: [Laughs] That was your dream too.

TF: [Laughs] I wanted to help him to move forward. That's why I decided to marry him.

NM: His ambition for learning attracted you.

TF: I was attracted by his dreams and wanted to help. I was jokingly asking how he would be able to support me though. [Laughs]

NM: But you accepted his proposal. Was it around 1957?

TF: That's right.

<End Segment 8> - Copyright © 2016 Densho. All Rights Reserved.

<Begin Segment 9>

[Translated from Japanese]

NM: I heard you had to get approval from the military to get married.

TF: Right. You couldn't get married without their approval.

NM: That's why he went to his boss.

TF: The boss sent him back right away.

NM: Was the U.S. military not supportive of the soldiers marrying Japanese women?

TF: They were not. They thought those soldiers didn't know enough and were just painting a rosy picture. Such married couples in those days were able to afford a very comfortable life with a lot of freedom. The exchange rate was 360 Japanese yen to a dollar. Any soldier was able to live like a rich person. They were assuming their dreamy life would last forever. Officers in the management knew what was going on. They discouraged many soldiers form getting married.

NM: They were having a rich life then, but...

TF: ...they were wondering...

NM: ...when they returned to the U. S...

TF: Whether or not they could overcome hardship when they return. Their primary concern was a high divorce rate and tragic endings. I also heard American women were against it.

NM: They were?

TF: Yes. You probably haven't heard of it, but there is a movie called Sayonara. Prospective husbands were being taken away from them.

NM: Bachelors at the right age were being taken by foreigners. [Laughs]

TF: Taken away from them.

NM: There was opposition back in the U.S. too.

TF: That's what I heard.

NM: A movement.

TF: I heard there was a movement against such marriage. I also heard, after I came over there, that Nisei women were also against it.

NM: Were they? I would like to ask more about it later. There was pressure from the mainland.

TF: That's what I heard.

NM: The military was being protective.

TF: They knew young soldiers were feeling lonely away from home in a foreign country. They suspected that was why they were attracted. That was their main concern. Mike told me that is what his pastor told him too.

NM: He was advised against marriage.

TF: He said he was told it was understandable for young men to be attracted [to a woman] in a foreign country, but the dream would not last.

NM: His assigned term to stay in Japan was not up yet.

TF: He still had one year to go.

NM: But as soon as he consulted his boss...

TF: ...right after.

NM: Where was he sent?

TF: I heard he was sent to Virginia.

NM: Virginia? All of a sudden?

TF: All of a sudden.

NM: Oh, dear. What did you think would happen? He went back to the U.S. Did you think it would be the end?

TF: I thought it was actually a very good testing period. We will be together if we are meant to be. I thought it was a good test.

NM: I see.

TF: We were separated. If I ended up going to the States, it must be meant to be.

NM: I see. You were accepting the situation with a rather positive attitude. [Laughs]

TF: I didn't have anything to fear. I was probably over optimistic. I'm still telling everyone. [Laughs] I am probably over optimistic. [Laughs]

<End Segment 9> - Copyright © 2016 Densho. All Rights Reserved.

<Begin Segment 10>

[Translated from Japanese]

NM: So Michael was sent back to Virginia. How about your family? They knew you were engaged, didn't they?

TF: They sort of did.

NM: What was their reaction?

TF: They seemed to be okay with it as it was already done.

NM: You didn't face any strong disapproval.

TF: I didn't. I was different ever since I was a small child. They figured I would go my way without their support. My elder sister used to say I would come back to the village as a secretary of a highly ranked politician. Very few women were in politics in those days. That was how I was viewed by the people around me. They didn't worry about me.

NM: You were always trying to move forward.

TF: Somehow.

NM: Everyone expected you to take off and go somewhere.

TF: I think my father was a pupil at terakoya private neighborhood home schooling.

NM: Teraoya?

TF: Terakoya.

NM: Oh, terakoya.

TF: They didn't have schools a long time ago.

NM: No, they didn't.

TF: I think that was where he was educated. I always respected him. He didn't talk much, and I don't have any memories of my father holding me. I remember I was sitting on top of haystacks on a wagon. That's how we move them in the countryside. We were heading home at dawn, I fell and the wagon went over me. My father panicked, picked me up and went home. He was asking if I was breathing. That is all I remember. He didn't give me a hug or pat my head. I remember he scolded me.

NM: He was a man of few words.

TF: He was very quiet. My grandmother, grandfather rather, was involved in politics. He agreed to be a co-signer for people and lost a large part of his family land. My father quietly worked and got it back. He did not talk. He worked in the field and was very strong and well-built.

NM: He was a hardworking person.

TF: My father didn't say anything to me. My aunt attended the prefecture girls' school I attended. It wasn't a prefecture school back then though. My uncle also went to a school for educators. He was the top student when he graduated. He climbed Sefuri Mountain for a camping trip to celebrate his graduation, got heat stroke and passed away there. I think my father encouraged learning, but he gave up on his education and took over the family. He was the eldest son. My grandfather was not doing great and was gradually losing his family land. My father decided to take over and work hard.

NM: But he wanted to receive higher education.

TF: I think he did. He wanted to go to school. He sent his younger brother and sister to school.

NM: He did indeed.

TF: But his opinion was -- this is what I heard from my aunt -- he said women do not need education as it will make us too proud and argumentative. [Laughs]

NM: [Laughs] Is that what your father said?

TF: I guess he thought happiness for women was to stay home, marry someone at the right age and raise a family. When I told him I wanted to go to a girls' school, he told me women didn't need to be educated. He said I should take classes to be a good bride after graduation, find someone right for the family and get married. He initially didn't give me his permission to go to school. I took the entrance exam without telling him. I went to him and said, "Father, I passed the test. I'm going to school." [Laughs]

NM: [Laughs] You had been always that way. Once you make up your mind...

TF: Yes. [Laughs]

NM: ...you will do it. That was what everyone expected from you then. They accepted it when you told everyone that you were marrying an American soldier.

TF: There was nothing they could have done. They had given up on the idea of stopping me. My mother, though, asked me if I really wanted to do it. I was going far away across the ocean. She said if I needed any help, she would be able to help me if I'm in the country. She would not be able to if I'm far away. She asked me if I really wanted to go.

NM: Your mother must have been worried about you. It was not easy to go abroad in those days.

TF: It was not. She didn't know anything about the history either. She grew up in a countryside. My sister, though, knew a few people married to an American around the base. She knew what it was like. She knew me too and supported me.

NM: So you had a supporter. No one really spoke against the marriage.

TF: My uncle was against it. His wife's younger brother was killed in the war. They were still looking for him. They were hoping the brother might have escaped from the troop and was hiding somewhere in the area. They were asking around to find out if anyone had seen him. The uncle and aunt stopped contacting me.

NM: Americans were from the enemy nation for them.

TF: This uncle was highly ranked and the head of the family. He went to the school for educators with my uncle. My uncle was the top student, and he was the second. That's how he married my aunt. I have to say he looks like a toad. I was amazed to see my aunt marrying him. [Laughs] I am still amazed. [Laughs] He's got a funny face, somehow charming though. He was awarded for his work and regarded highly. Once he made a decision, no one could say anything against it. I was the only one who did. I told him I would expect him to have a better understanding as an educator. "How did you educate children during the war? You must have promoted wartime propaganda and told your students Japan would win the war. It's not like that anymore. As in the bible, 'Knock and the door will be opened to you.' The door will not be open without knocking. You have no right to close the door, I would like to knock."

NM: Did you say that to your uncle?

TF: Yes, I wrote it in a letter and sent it to him.

NM: You did.

TF: I saw the couple at a family function. We had not talked to each other for sixteen or seventeen years until then.

NM: [Laughs] I wonder if he had been upset for all those years.

TF: I think so. I didn't reach out either.

NM: The uncle was against the marriage, and Michael was sent back to the U.S.

<End Segment 10> - Copyright © 2016 Densho. All Rights Reserved.

<Begin Segment 11>

[Translated from Japanese]

TF: Mike wrote to me every day.

NM: From the States?

TF: Yes. My mother was looking over my shoulder and was wondering how I was able to decipher letters looking like broken nails. [Laughs]

NM: You received a letter every single day?

TF: Almost.

NM: He told you he was coming back?

TF: "I will come back for sure. Don't worry."

NM: He asked you to wait for him. What were people around you saying?

TF: They didn't say anything.

NM: Did anyone tell you he was not going to come back?

TF: No, no one did. They thought it was no use telling me.

NM: How about other couples? I'm assuming some people were together in Japan but got separated after American soldiers went back to their country.

TF: There were people like that in the city, but not in my village. I was the only one who went out with an American soldier.

NM: I see.

TF: No one else in the area.

NM: You were receiving a letter every day.

TF: Almost every day. It sometimes skipped. He didn't have any stamps and had to wait until next payday to buy more. [Laughs] I wasn't sure if it was going to work out. [Laughs]

NM: Did you write back to him?

TF: I didn't at the beginning. I didn't entirely trust him or count on him to come back. I was ready to give up on it. I was trying to see how long it would go on. I am always a quiet observer. I was trying to figure out if I could trust him and didn't ask too many questions. I didn't want to receive a lot of information to analyze. I decided to quietly and patiently wait to see if it was going to continue.

NM: You were calmly waiting.

TF: That's how I am. I remember my teacher. He was an art teacher and agreed to be a guarantor for our marriage. I was not in his class, but he was always encouraging me. He visited my mother and asked her to send me to higher educational institute. He said it was going to help me. He was visiting my mother when I was a student. I heard it from my elder sister. My mother told him she had no intentions of sending her daughters to school. We lived in a rural area, and I didn't have access to any information about scholarships or other opportunities. I would have taken off if I had had more information.

NM: I believe you probably would have.

TF: I didn't have any information and just had to put up with it. My elder sisters came home for holidays like Bon and the new year. They were always exhausted. Their life must have been stressful. They slept day and night, and I was wondering what they came back for. My mother was busy cooking for them. I saw her making a lot of food. I thought it was ridiculous. They were married to wealthy men, and that was what they were doing.

NM: They life must have been full of stress.

TF: I decided I was not going to get married.

NM: You did not want to do what your sisters did.

TF: I did not.

NM: Did you want to get out of there?

TF: I think I did, but I didn't have courage. I didn't know how. I would have taken off if I had had any knowledge about scholarships.

NM: You don't think you would have gotten married.

TF: I would have taken off, but I didn't have any information. I thought my life was practically over. I wrote it in my diary, and I gave up on it. It was in the middle of the second year at middle school. My father passed away, and I gave up hope. I was always frustrated.

NM: Michael came into your life and offered something new.

TF: It is a strange fate.

NM: It was good timing, too.

TF: I was willing to marry a penniless private from a poor family.

NM: You were.

TF: You never know how it works.

[Interruption]

<End Segment 11> - Copyright © 2016 Densho. All Rights Reserved.

<Begin Segment 12>

[Translated from Japanese]

NM: What happened after Michael went back to the U.S.?

TF: I received a letter from him every day, and my mother figured there was nothing she could do to stop us.

NM: She gave you her approval. He came back to Japan, didn't he? How did he come back?

TF: Mike's family was also against the marriage, but mother's love trumps all. She protects her child when he faces rejection. Mother is strong. His mother sent a letter first, and his grandmother helped too. They wrote to someone in the military.

NM: They sent a letter to a military official.

TF: They said that their son received unfair treatment.

NM: He was sent back before his assignment was over.

TF: I used to have a letter signed by President Eisenhower. I lost it when I came over to the U.S. because we could not transport everything we owned. A high-ranking official sent an order to send him back to Japan.

NM: That's how it happened. Michael's mother and grandmother helped him to go back to Japan.

TF: Military regulations required a certain number of years to go back to a previously assigned positon for the second time. They didn't send you back to the same place right away. They could not send him back to Japan, but they could send him to the Okinawa jurisdiction. Okinawa was not a part of Japan. It was occupied and technically a foreign land. They had a radar facility in Okinoerabu and could send him over right away.

NM: It was occupied by the U.S., and he was allowed to be stationed there. How long was he in Virginia?

TF: I think it was two or three months.

NM: He was sent to Okinoerabu Island after that.

TF: That's right. [Laughs] I had never heard of the place. [Laughs]

NM: [Laughs] I see. Did he directly go to Okinoerabu Island when he returned?

TF: No, no. He came back to Tokyo. Everyone was sent to Tokyo to fly out to their final destination. He had a few days off and asked if he could leave the base. He didn't tell them he was going to Fukuoka. It is pretty far. He asked, and they had no idea what he was planning to do. They thought he was just going to walk around in the city and approved his request. He jumped on a plane to Itabashi. The flight was pretty frequent.

NM: Without telling anybody?

TF: They would not approve a request like that. You keep everything secret. [Laughs]

NM: He didn't want to be sent back to the States again. He went to Fukuoka without telling anybody. Did you know he was coming to Fukuoka?

TF: Well, let's see. No, no. I didn't know he was coming to Fukuoka. I just knew he was coming back to Japan.

NM: You heard he was to go to Okinawa, Okinoerabu Island rather, but you didn't know he was coming to Fukuoka.

TF: Not at all.

NM: Did he just come back out of blue?

TF: He did.

NM: What year was that?

TF: It was the end of 1957.

NM: He came all the way to Kasugamura?

TF: I was so surprised. I was amazed to see he remembered how to come back when I saw him coming up on a hill. I was up in a tree and saw him walking up. [Laughs]

NM: [Laughs] How come you were up in a tree?

TF: A persimmon tree had bagworms. They were eating leaves and hindering the fruit growth. I was picking them. Mike wrote in his book that I was pruning branches, but I was not. Bagworms.

NM: You were getting rid of bagworms.

TF: I picked them and put them in a sack. Their bags were very sturdy. You can make a small sack by patching them together.

NM: Do you cut up their small bags?

TF: You cut them open, sew them together and make a sack. I was planning to make some.

NM: That's why you were up on a tree. [Laughs]

TF: I used to sing, "Bagworm, come out. I'll give you a coin." You squeeze the bottom of the bag, the worm crawls out, and you save the bag.

NM: You spotted Michael walking up on the hill when you were on top of the tree.

TF: He walked like a duck. He was swinging his arms like this. Military walk, I guess. [Laughs] I saw someone walking like a duck and coming up. That was a real surprise.

NM: You reunited. Were you happy?

TF: I don't know. It wasn't expected.

NM: He finally came back. He didn't have a lot of days to spend in Kasugamura, did he?

TF: He didn't.

NM: He had to go back to Tokyo.

TF: Within three days.

NM: How did you spend those three days?

TF: My mother didn't speak any English. My younger sister was already married and left home. I lived with my mother, my elder sister and her husband, but the couple had their own schedule. It was very quiet, and he went back on the following day.

<End Segment 12> - Copyright © 2016 Densho. All Rights Reserved.

<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.

<Begin Segment 14>

[Translated from Japanese]

NM: You moved to Okinoerabu Island. It's not a big island, is it?

TF: It's a small island.

NM: What was it like when you were there?

TF: We didn't have electricity, and we didn't have bathrooms. Just outhouse. They had storm doors but not shoji sliding doors. When the doors were open, there was no screen, and it was just wide open. It is a southern island.

NM: Yes, it's located in the south region.

TF: The wind just blew through the house.

NM: Did they have a military base there?

TF: They had a radar facility on top of a mountain there.

NM: Did Michael work as a technician at the radar facility again?

TF: That's what he did.

NM: How was your life there?

TF: I never imagined such a life. It was a good experience. I had two big clay containers about this tall in the house. A boy brought fresh spring water in a bucket and filled them after school every day.

NM: You didn't have running water.

TF: He was hired on a monthly basis to fill up the containers. My landlord had a pump in his place. He also owned a kimono clothing store. He had a pump in the back of his store. I used to do my laundry at the pump. I sometimes went to a spring where other villagers went to.

NM: You lived in a rented house. Michael did not live in the house, did he?

TF: He had to go back to his base. That was a rule. Ten o'clock curfew.

NM: Ten o'clock curfew. He had to go back at ten.

TF: Shuttle trucks came to pick up everyone hanging around in the town and took them back.

NM: Was the base close to the town?

TF: It was distant. It took more than 20 minutes to drive.

NM: American soldiers could come out to town during the day on their vacation days?

TF: They did.

NM: And they were picked up by bus before ten. [Laughs]

TF: They needed to go back by ten.

NM: You were married but were not able to live together, were you?

TF: We could not. He had to follow the curfew.

NM: Did you report your marriage to the military?

TF: No, we didn't. They could have sent him back again if they had found it out.

NM: You kept it secret from the military.

TF: We didn't actively keep it secret.

NM: You just didn't tell them.

TF: We didn't. We didn't really need to. We couldn't apply for financial aid for independents either.

NM: I see.

TF: It was just our private matter as individuals. We knew he would face a court martial if we told them. It was against the military law.

NM: Because you got married without approval. How about the village people? Was that a small village? What was the relationship between the villagers and the military? Was it good, or not so good?

TF: I heard there were some issues later on. Some soldiers probably behaved selfishly. But it was a resource for the village. They had restaurants and beer gardens.

NM: It was their income source.

TF: I was financially helping them. That was the only revenue source. They were not able to openly complain. The military also hired local employees like houseboys and mess hall workers. They provided jobs. The village people didn't openly criticize. I saw some small issues discussed in newspapers later.

NM: How did they treat you? You lived alone, didn't you?

TF: They didn't like me. There were Mike's cigarettes left around in the house. Someone informed the police on me. They came over for an investigation. I think they were from Okinawa or Kagoshima.

NM: Was it a problem that Michael came to your house?

TF: No. There were cigarettes in the house.

NM: Oh, yes.

TF: They were sold on the black market.

NM: Oh, I got it.

TF: That's why.

NM: They thought you might be selling them on the black market.

TF: It was just a false assumption. They came to investigate. We were friends with a local police officer, he lived in the neighborhood. He lived right across the street. Mike was taking a judo class from him, and we were friends. We showed him our marriage certificate, and he knew we were married.

NM: He knew you were married.

TF: He did, and he helped us. We did have the police visit us for an investigation though. We took them to the local police officer and didn't get into any problems. I found out later that someone informed the police because a lot of American products were around in the house.

NM: It was done behind your back.

TF: Yes, that's right.

NM: Someone did it.

TF: The military allowed only single soldiers stationed on the island. It was for health reasons as they did not have bathrooms or running water. That was not up to their standard. The rules prohibited family members to live on the island. It was for single soldiers only. There were some women going out with soldiers, but they were just girlfriends. They probably were envious of me.

NM: I see. They didn't give you a warm welcome then.

TF: I loved reading and didn't mind being alone. I didn't care. I talked to another woman or two, but I didn't really have close friends. I didn't pay attention to others, but some people probably didn't like me. They occasionally gave me dirty looks. I went to confront one woman. I was the first one who married an American soldier there. She didn't think marriage would be possible until then. Neither did the other village people. They had assumed marrying an American soldier was impossible.

NM: They did.

TF: They started to realize marriage was an option. Some probably wanted to get married. I heard this woman spread false rumors about me, and I went to see her. I asked her why she was doing it while she herself wanted to get married. She said something to me in the island dialect. It just sounded like scratchy noise, and I didn't understand a word. [Laughs]

NM: [Laughs] You didn't. It is hard to understand island dialect.

TF: [Laughs] I didn't understand at all.

NM: It must be hard.

TF: I told her to speak English. She wanted to marry an American. I told her I would understand her if she speaks English. That was the only issue I encountered. The rest of it was paradise. [Laughs] I was running around through sugar cane farms. What I remember best about the place is they had a lot of geckos.

NM: Because it is warm there.

TF: The house had an open ceiling for better ventilation. It only had beams going across. They were running around up there and sometimes fell down. [Laughs] I had a mosquito net all through the year. I was afraid of them.

NM: You never know when they fall down on you.

TF: When a gecko came down for the first time, I ran all the way to a sugar cane field. [Laughs] I couldn't even scream. I was terrified.

NM: You probably had never seen one before. [Laughs]

TF: I looked around and didn't see anything. I was told it must have been a gecko when I mentioned that something came down. I was told they eat flies. They are pretty beneficial and nothing to be afraid of. But I was horrified at first.

NM: You had a sort of fun and different life there.

<End Segment 14> - Copyright © 2016 Densho. All Rights Reserved.

<Begin Segment 15>

[Translated from Japanese]

NM: What did you go through to come to the States? You received an official approval and got married sometime along the process.

TF: We started the official application procedure right after he came back.

NM: Did you report your marriage when you went to Okinoerabu Island?

TF: We started the application but didn't report. We didn't tell them we were married but told them we would like to get married.

NM: I see.

TF: We didn't tell them we were already married, but they found out. That ended up sending him to be court martialed. He was brought to the harbor. He thought he was in trouble and contacted his family. I don't know the details. A phone call was made once again through the same network.

NM: Just like the letter. [Laughs]

TF: An order came from a high official and claimed they had no right [to stop our marriage].

NM: It was so close.

TF: It was so close. They were waiting for a helicopter to transfer him.

NM: Good thing.

TF: He got out of trouble once again and filed an application. It was accepted, but it took a long time. They checked our families, and we had to go through physical exam. We finally got married at church. No, church was later. We went to a consulate, and that sealed it.

NM: Your marriage was finally official.

TF: It was official, and I got to receive financial support as a dependent.

NM: Did you receive a spouse visa? Is that what you received?

TF: I received it. Green pass, I think.

NM: Green card. You were granted permanent resident status then. You were ready to move to the U.S.

TF: I was theoretically ready.

NM: You had another wedding? [Laughs]

TF: We did. Mike wanted to have his religious ceremony. It was not official in his mind without it, and he was feeling guilty. We had classes and finished the course. Church recognized our marriage with the military permission.

NM: I see.

TF: That's when we had the third wedding ceremony.

NM: [Laughs] You had three wedding ceremonies. You were finally ready to move to the States.

TF: Everything was done. Mike was a low ranking soldier, and the military didn't provide travel expenses for his family member. We were slow finding out what it would take and realized we had to save money. We were really worried about details when we found out I could go with him. A lot of people went over, and we thought it would be simple. We started doing some research and found out the military only provides travel support to sergeants. It was an issue. We had to save money for our travel expenses. In the middle of that, the news came that his father passed away.

NM: Did Michael have to go back right away?

TF: We lived in Okinoerabu Island, and I was going to go back for my personal belongings. He told me he would have everything packed away and sent over. I left everything behind, and I ended up losing the entire thing.

NM: Did you go back to Fukuoka first?

TF: I went back and spent some time with my family. To make things complicated, Mike didn't want to spend another day with the military. His plan was to be discharged in California. I was not allowed to travel with him and was with my family to save money. Mike was to fly to California, to be discharged there and let me know. The plan was I was going to California, and we were flying to New York together. We went back to my village together and spent some time. The news came in, and he was told to report right away. They didn't give us any details but took him away. They worked on the paperwork to send him back right away, and we didn't see each other. I received a notice form the Red Cross. They told me that his father passed away and he was going back soon. They said they were responsible to send me over there.

NM: They were sending you to New York.

TF: Yes. We worked on the paperwork, and I ended up hastily leaving.

NM: It happened quickly.

TF: Quickly. They told me I was to attend the memorial service.

NM: Did you attend the service?

TF: I did.

NM: That was the first time you met Michael's family.

TF: That's right.

NM: You mentioned Michael's family was initially against the marriage. How did it go when you first met them?

TF: It was at the memorial service. No one had any complaints or opinions. There was no welcome either.

NM: Everyone is busy at a memorial service.

TF: Nothing happened. I just jumped in and met them for the first time.

<End Segment 15> - Copyright © 2016 Densho. All Rights Reserved.

<Begin Segment 16>

[Translated from Japanese]

NM: What was your first impression when you reached New York?

TF: I was somewhat nervous. I got onto a plane and arrived at the Haneda Airport. I was checking in and said I wanted to get changed. It was probably a student part-time worker. I was taken to a VIP lounge somehow. [Laughs] The room had beautiful chairs. It was a surprise. [Laughs] I was very lucky. Mike called me from somewhere to make sure I was there and doing fine. That really helped me. That was it, and I got onto a plane. We played all sorts of games during the flight, but I started to get nervous when we were getting close to New York. I went through customs in Alaska. I was bound to Seattle and then to New York. It was expected, but it took me a long time to get through in Alaska. It took me such a long time that the connecting flight had already left when I arrived at Seattle. I had to quickly change my plan and spend a night. I live here in Seattle now, and this is where I spent my first night. [Laughs]

NM: [Laughs] First night in the States.

TF: [Laughs] First night in the States. It was in May and was light out even at night. It was late at night but was still light out. I was surprised. I couldn't fall asleep and stayed awake all night. There was someone else, I cannot remember where he was going. He told me that he was going to work as a houseboy and going to school. The boy was on the same plane, and we went to the same hotel together. We decided to wake up each other in the morning. We didn't want to oversleep. We made a promise and went to the hotel. I don't think he slept either. We called each other before five o'clock, and we got up. I got on a plane and stared to get nervous when we were getting close to New York. A business person asked me, "Are you travelling alone?" I said yes. He asked if I knew where to go. I showed him a piece of paper with the address and telephone number and told him that was all I had. He told me not to worry. He will take me to a cab. [Laughs] I found someone I could rely on, and I got myself right next to him. [Laughs] I was following him when someone waiting there approached me.

NM: He came to pick you up.

TF: I fainted for the first time in my life. It was so tense, and my muscles just melted when the tension was lifted up. That was my first and last time.

NM: You felt relieved.

TF: I lost consciousness. It was the first time I experienced such a thing.

NM: That tells us how stressful the trip was.

TF: I think it was. I must have been very tense.

NM: You went over to an unknown land.

TF: I was just doing my best. I'm still joking about it. When I was a student, another student always got dizzy when we were standing and listening to the principal's speech. I thought it was such a nice way to be excused from boring rituals. I was hoping I would faint like that. It really happened.

NM: It did. [Laughs] You reached New York after the very intense trip. That is your first place to live. Did you see any Japanese people around you?

TF: No, not at all.

NM: What was the reaction of the people around you? They had a Japanese person joining them.

TF: I didn't meet any Japanese in New York. The family did not have social activities at all. I was always with just the family.

NM: Did the family give you a warm welcome?

TF: They didn't have any other options.

NM: [Laughs] You came anyway.

TF: [Laughs] This tiny Japanese woman joined them.

NM: Did you encounter any discrimination or prejudice?

TF: No, I didn't.

NM: I see.

TF: The younger brothers hadn't seen a Japanese person and came to me to take a look. They wanted to talk to me but didn't quite know how. That was okay. I lived in the same house and had nowhere else to go.

NM: You lived with the family and managed to communicate with them. What did Michael do? What was his job?

TF: He could not leave the military all together yet. His paperwork was still being processed.

NM: He wasn't discharged yet.

TF: The paperwork didn't get mailed to us. He requested expedited filing, but it was bureaucracy. We didn't know what was happening and waited for two months without hearing back from them. He went to a base to inquire, but they just turned him away. They didn't have any paperwork to process. They told him to wait at home and call them every morning. That was all. He was not getting paid either.

NM: I see.

TF: At first, a radio station had an opening. He went to apply and got a job playing records on the air. He didn't really like it, but he had to work.

NM: He was a radio DJ. [Laughs]

TF: [Laughs] We were still living with the family. The next job was with Lockheed. They were looking for technicians. Days after he started, they went on strike. He was unemployed again. [Laughs]

NM: [Laughs] Out of a job again.

TF: We lived with his parents. His father was still serving and receiving independent financial support for his mother and three sons, a total of four dependents. I didn't make a big difference.

NM: You had a pretty good start.

TF: It was good, I think. Some people didn't have a roof over their head.

<End Segment 16> - Copyright © 2016 Densho. All Rights Reserved.

<Begin Segment 17>

[Translated from Japanese]

NM: I would like to ask another question about your life after you came to the States. Did you have a chance to get to know the Japanese American community?

TF: No, not at all.

NM: You didn't. When was the first time you saw Japanese Americans?

TF: I didn't meet anyone.

NM: When was it?

TF: I met Kazue after we went to Alaska when she moved to the island with her husband. That was my first time to meet a Japanese American.

NM: She was from Japan, wasn't she?

TF: She was.

NM: How about the Japanese American community?

TF: I didn't see any.

NM: I'm assuming Issei people were still around.

TF: I think so.

NM: You didn't see any Issei or Nisei people.

TF: No, I didn't. They were not in the place we were living. The only Japanese I knew was the friend and another one I met in Anchorage. She lives in Oklahoma, and we still write to each other. They were only two Japanese I knew.

NM: I see.

TF: Until I came to Seattle.

NM: Seattle was the first place you saw Japanese.

TF: I met Japanese. That was my first time.

NM: Seattle has a Japanese American community. When you came here, you had a chance to get to know the community. How did they accept you?

TF: I came to Seattle after spending some time in this country, and I didn't have any issues. I heard that people who came earlier to live in Seattle went through some experience.

NM: Was it not pleasant?

TF: People in our generation were married to an American [non-Japanese American] and didn't have to work with the community. We had an option to be distant. I knew people who were going to churches and Buddhist temples and was told they heard negative comments about them made behind their back.

NM: They did not blend in.

TF: That's right. It takes time. When I think about it, people in our generation made a decision to get married and went through hardships before coming over. We were probably hard-headed for self-protection. That was partially our fault. I think we appeared to be too strong-willed.

NM: I see.

TF: This is my opinion, but Issei people came over to work hard and go back to Japan as a successful person. That's not everyone, but some. They worked very hard and demonstrated Japanese endurance and politeness to other people in this country. Nisei people were brought up by them and were told to be patient and cooperative. They were quiet and hard working. Their parents really encouraged them to work hard. They finally earned to gain a high position in the society. Another example is Nisei soldiers of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. They pledged their loyalty to this country and bravely displayed the Japanese fighting spirit at the same time. We didn't have any obligations when we came. Our predecessors did a good job. We just came over with nothing to worry about and might not have seemed to be very respectful.

NM: [Laughs] Because our predecessors have built a firm foundation.

TF: We came in carefree, and we are married to a foreigner. [Non-Japanese Americans] We didn't have to live by the rules of the community. I think we appeared to be arrogant. That led to misunderstandings, and some people were accused of being rude. It is their fault too. That's how I thought.

NM: Newcomers don't have community obligations.

TF: On the other hand, we had to find our way into the American society by ourselves because we are married to a foreigner. We lived in a totally different environment from the Japanese society. I believe our generation's achievement is to introduce and spread the Japanese culture in an accessible fashion. There were three generations, and we each had advantages. Conflict happens when people are selfish or stubborn.

<End Segment 17> - Copyright © 2016 Densho. All Rights Reserved.

<Begin Segment 18>

[Translated from Japanese]

NM: I agree your generation played a big role to introduce Japanese culture...

TF: I think we were the first generational group to quickly spread Japanese culture. Soy sauce was not available at a local Safeway when I came over. Maybe it was in Chinatown, but I didn't want to go shopping in Chinatown. Funny thing happened. Mike was always telling his family about sukiyaki ever since he came back. He is bragging about it and telling them this is a Japanese dish the entire family can enjoy together by eating from the same pot. He was asking me to prepare it. I thought we could put it together with onions and meat, but soy sauce was not available. It cannot be done without it. We had to find soy sauce, but we didn't have a car to go shopping in Chinatown. We had never been there. We could not afford to go shopping in the area. We looked around and found Chun King Sauce. We thought it looked like soy sauce. It had the same color. It was sauce after all, and we assumed it would be similar to soy sauce. [Laughs] I didn't cook in Japan because my mother did. We decided to cook with Chun King Sauce. We bought meat and made sukiyaki, but no one ate it. [Laughs] I didn't either. [Laughs]

NM: [Laughs] No one touched it including you and Michael?

TF: [Laughs] Michael was the one who ate least. We ended up throwing everything away in garbage.

NM: He was talking about sukiyaki so much though.

TF: We didn't eat it at all. The family had never had such a meal or even heard about it. They were not really willing to try new things. They are Irish and like eating meat, potatoes, corn and green peas. That's all they have.

NM: Japanese food didn't give them very good first impression. [Laughs]

TF: I have never prepared sukiyaki for the family since then. [Laughs]

NM: They just didn't have a good first experience. [Laughs]

TF: One of the brother's wives was a secretary at Pentax. They often invited visitors from Japan back then and went to well-known Japanese restaurants in New York. She knows sushi and learned a bit more that way. [Laughs]

<End Segment 18> - Copyright © 2016 Densho. All Rights Reserved.

<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.

<Begin Segment 20>

[Translated from Japanese]

NM: You were involved in a different group called Nikkei International Marriage Society.

TF: Nikkei International Marriage Society was founded by Kazuko Umezu Stout who lived in Elm. She had a stroke. This group started in Tacoma and asked our group to collaborate. That is how we started to work together shortly after. She got ill and took a break for a while. Two years passed, and everyone wanted to reactivate the group we had worked hard for. We renamed the group and started anew. It has been ten years.

NM: Has it?

TF: It's been going on, but we have fewer members now. Everyone has some health issues. Some of us are caretakers for our husbands. Others are no longer able to travel by themselves. We meet once a year, and a good year has thirty, thirty-five to forty members attending.

NM: Is this an international group?

TF: It is international. We used to have members in Australia and another one in England. Two members were in Canada. We are still keeping in touch by email. We don't have enough energy any more to get together though. The Convention of Nikkei and Japanese Abroad is held in Japan. We try to find out who is attending and try to get together while we are there. We update each other with news like Japanese yen is getting stronger or someone cannot make it at the last minute. We contact each other, and we actually got together once. I'm wondering what year it was. That was the 45th Convention of Nikkei and Japanese Abroad. That was when we had another reunion in Tokyo. That was the last time we saw each other.

NM: I see. You are still volunteering at the bunko aren't you?

TF: I still am volunteering at the bunko. I take it as my last volunteering position.

NM: Bunko is a Japanese...

TF: It is.

NM: ...library with Japanese books.

TF: It is like a library, and we used to have all sorts of books. We ran out of space and moved history books to the school library. It is not much of a library, but they have room for books. What we have now is children's books and other book for pleasure reading.

NM: You are still very active.

TF: Please come visit sometime.

NM: Thank you very much. [Laughs] It has been almost two hours...

TF: Has it?

<End Segment 20> - Copyright © 2016 Densho. All Rights Reserved.

<Begin Segment 21>

[Translated from Japanese]

NM: I would like to ask one last question. What was the biggest challenge after you came over to the States?

TF: What was the biggest challenge? We moved around a lot because of promotions, every two or three years. Every time we went to a new place, we saw good things about it first. We didn't experience anything unpleasant. I have only good memories about the good places. What was the hardest? It is like making a confession at church every Sunday, and I am hesitant to say this, but I wish the family members were more responsible.

NM: Your family members in the States?

TF: I don't know why they are like that. They are grown-ups now and independent. The eldest has to shoulder a lot of responsibilities.

NM: Because younger siblings need help...

TF: It is always, "It's my family," and I cannot say no to that. I did it once. We were in Anchorage. The area was not really developed, and the rent was a half of the monthly salary. Utility bills were big in the winter, and we had to be frugal to survive. I was frustrated and expecting some hardship. His father was already gone, and he was shouldering responsibilities over the family. He could not avoid it. We didn't even have a kitchen canister set. You know those matching containers for sugar and flour in the kitchen. I was using some jars, but we needed to send money if they asked us. Once, only once, I said, "I don't even have a canister set. How can they ask for money to replace their broken mixer every year?" [Laughs] Turquoise was the color for a kitchen back then. There were turquoise color refrigerators and everything. Mike rushed out to get a turquoise color canister set. That was when his mother told us that her mixer was broken. I didn't have a mixer. I mixed with my hands.

NM: He was trying hard to make you happy. [Laughs]

TF: Turquoise color. I thought the color was too bright and didn't like it. I told him I would not use them and put them in a closet. [Laughs] I think I was very frustrated then.

NM: What makes you think coming over to the States was a good decision?

TF: I truly think it was. I knew you can make it here if you try hard here. There is a saying. "A diamond does not shine without polishing. It is all up to your effort." I was brought up with the philosophy, and I knew you can make it if you try in the States. I tried hard in this land of opportunity. People can go back to school even when they are aged. It was not possible in Japan. People did not have time once they got a job.

NM: That is true.

TF: Until you retire. It might be different now. I thought this county was great. I had to try hard. I achieved not one hundred percent but ninety percent of my goals and hopes.

NM: Your hard work paid off.

TF: I am happy that I came to this country, and I think I came in a good time. Things were simpler then.

NM: Your husband started his own business, and it was a big success.

TF: It was. We worked hard together, and I am happy that we are not living in a tent.

NM: Your hope for higher education was not granted in Japan, and you came over here.

TF: I am still asked. People started a book club in our neighborhood, and they picked up the book Mike wrote. They asked me why I didn't go to school when I was free to do so.

NM: Why didn't you go back to school?

TF: That was the question asked the most. The answer that came to my mind is that it seemed like a waste of our resources. I don't drive, and we would need two cars if I did. All kinds of logistics. We know three FAA couples, and the wives went to college when they got settled down. All three couples divorced. [Laughs] That was what I said, and everyone was laughing. I don't mind giving up on what I wanted. This country has been so good to me, and I would rather see someone who was born here achieving success. That makes my life easier. I have given up on what I wanted long ago. That's how I feel. Was it a mistake? I don't know.

NM: You two have been working side by side.

TF: Yes, we have. We now almost need a third person to support us though. [Laughs] I'm glad that I came over to this country. If you try hard, you can make it here, and I believe it is still the case. I look at young people coming here from Japan and sometimes think they are wasting an opportunity.

NM: You would like to encourage those young people from Japan to take advantage of the opportunity to be here.

TF: I would like see them working hard and make the best of the opportunity. Sky is the limit. They are very fortunate. It is very easy to come over, just like visiting your neighbor. I said the last farewell to my family when I left.

NM: Because you didn't know when you could see them again?

TF: I didn't intend to go back, and I didn't know if it would be even possible. I know some people dishonored by the family. That is not my situation, and I did not have to worry about it. It is very easy these days.

NM: Traveling is much simpler now.

TF: People come over just like they were visiting a neighbor. That is fortunate, but sometimes I wonder what they are trying to achieve here.

NM: Then, we would like to encourage the young generations to go for it.

TF: That's what I would like to tell them.

NM: Thank you very much for your time. Do you have anything else you would like to talk about?

TF: Life is full of mistakes and funny stories. I would like to say if you work hard, you can have a good life.

NM: Indeed. Thank you very much for your life story today.

TF: Many people have different stories, but unfortunately everyone does not have a chance to share them. Some people have sad stories.

NM: Your story today is very encouraging. [Laughs] Thank you very much.

TF: Thank you.

NM: Thank you.

<End Segment 21> - Copyright © 2016 Densho. All Rights Reserved.