<Begin Segment 21>

EG: And you also, some other good things happened to you while you were at camp, you met your wife there.

TM: Yes. Oh, besides, when it came to, well, it was a army camp and we were teaching these students military terminologies, but to me it was easy because I had all that sort of thing while I was in Japan, and so that made extra easy for me. And that wasn't quite the case in case of those Nisei who were here and learned the language, but never been exposed to military terminologies until they went to the school. About, well... 1943, that next year, they were, the school was hiring all sort of people like a Japanese typists and more secretaries and all that. And one girl came to our place as a Japanese typist. But there was another one, a male Japanese typist, and the school used him as a Japanese typist, you know, use a typewriter, like that. But the director of academic training -- Mr. Aiso, later a major -- decided to use this girl as his secretary because she took shorthand and she was good in typing. And in fact she was sort of a professional secretary. She was from San Francisco and working for a Japanese Chamber of Commerce in San Francisco. So she was the only one available at that time then, and knew enough Japanese and then, of course, English. So she used to be in our faculty room and there wasn't enough chair, chairs around and she used to sit at my chair while I went out teaching. And she, when I came back, she had to move to another chair. [Laughs] That's why, that's how I met. [Laughs]

EG: That's very unique. I don't know anyone who ever met their wife by moving her out of a chair. [Laughs]

TM: Musical chair.

EG: Yeah. I met a lot of people who had marriages arranged for them, but this certainly wasn't an arrangement, this, this just happened.

TM: No, she was warming up my chair for me. [Laughs]

EG: But she wasn't recruited to this job from San Francisco, was she?

TM: No, she answered an ad calling for a Japanese typist, and so she applied.

EG: Where was she? Where did she see the ad? Where was she when she applied?

TM: She was in a relocation camp.

EG: Ah-ha. That's what I thought.

TM: Utah.

EG: Uh-huh. Topaz.

TM: Topaz, right.

EG: So she, this job was a means for her to be able to leave camp.

TM: Yes, and she wanted to leave camp.

EG: Yeah, if she could get a job inland, well then, that would be all right. Did she leave family behind in camp?

TM: Yes. Her parents. In fact, the parents, the brother and sister, were in Topaz relocation camp. So she came alone to Minnesota, Minneapolis.

EG: And you were married there?

TM: After, after a little bit. [Laughs]

EG: Not right after the first move out of your chair.

TM: Well, you know, the Japanese parents were not too easy. And I guess her parents wanted to know what kind of a person I was, my background and whatnot. And my saying so wasn't good enough, so they had to investigate. [Laughs] I guess they did. And eventually my so-called uncle went there to talk to them. I think they were impressed.

EG: That sounds like --

TM: So we got married in 1944, I believe. Yeah, I think it was '44.

EG: That sounds like a fairly typical Japanese arranging of marriage. After you got the ball rolling, they had to do the checking you out to see if it was to be a good marriage.

TM: They hired a go-between and they made it look nice, you might say. We didn't need the go-between, but they hired somebody. [Laughs]

EG: Well, I understand that a lot of Japanese weddings, a go-between is really necessary even though the couple have found each other and gotten engaged and everything, but for the service, you need a formal go-between anyhow, even if, even if they didn't do the job of putting you together.

TM: If any trouble developed, a go-between was the one that had to solve the problem.

EG: That's right. They take on some responsibility, don't they? I hope you were good to your go-between. [Laughs]

<End Segment 21> - Copyright © 1997 Densho. All Rights Reserved.