<Begin Segment 3>

EG: Okay. But you didn't stay in America very long. What happened about that?

TM: No. It was decided by a lot of Issei parents that especially the boys should go back to Japan to receive education in Japan because they thought the American education was no good. [Laughs]

EG: Why, why is that? What was not good about the American education -- and Japan better?

TM: I don't know, they thought that the children should be able to speak, speak the language so they can communicate. And also their Japanese language school here was not quite complete, it was not adequate, in their opinion. So they thought we should all go back and a lot of children, a lot of boys did go back.

EG: How old were you when you returned to Japan?

TM: I was -- they say I was three.

EG: You don't remember.

TM: No.

EG: You were too young. Now, who went back to Japan with you? You didn't go alone.

TM: No, my mother took me back. She was not too well. She was sick, and after she took me back to Japan, she died. So I was brought up by my grandfolks.

<End Segment 3> - Copyright © 1997 Densho. All Rights Reserved.