<Begin Segment 15>

TM: Anyway, so I get married and we stayed at apartment I rented. That's where we stayed. And back side was... anyway, couple was in and front side was couple and a little girl was in there. That's house upstair and bottom part, whole family was in the bottom part. Well, then when we start marriage life. Those days it was pretty hard. Japanese people is pretty hard because haiseki, you know, everything you do is haiseki and pretty hard times those days. So I, when we married, it was what she make is give to the mother, and we live on my wages. That's the way we figured out so that's what we did. Well, then the springtime come. No, not the spring. It was still winter, I think. I think, "We maybe move to the Bellevue and stay with your mother and that way we can cut my expense because we don't have to pay the room rent here and same time I can help your mother for after I come home from work, Saturday half day, or Sunday I can help on the farm. So I think that's maybe the best way." She agreed right away because she can go home. Okay. Well, then we do that. Then we talked to Kaz' mother and she sure want that. She was welcome to do that. We moved to Kaz' house in Bellevue. That was in the spring, I think it was.

AI: Where was the Hirotaka's place in Bellevue?

TM: Hirotaka?

AI: Yeah. Where was that in Bellevue?

TM: The Hirotaka family, Hirotaka family was little bit funny family. Father died real early and mother was raising one boy and three girls. And they had one more older brother like me was grown up in Japan and then come to here, but he never stayed in Bellevue. Yeah. He was over here in Portland. I never see him. When I was in the market, I used to see Kaz' father. He used to come to market sometime, but I never seen that brother. Well, anyway, 1926 married and '27 springtime, we move to Bellevue. Oh, but that's quite hard work was for me because I used to catch six o'clock boat, oh, I have to walk down to Bellevue and take a bus. And bus goes to Medina and I rode the ferry. Then ferry goes to Leschi Park. Then that cable car take the long time. That cable car is really slow. Cable car, I go to Third Avenue. That's the end of cable car, then walk down to First Avenue. Then I take a street car, then the street car goes a long way to the furniture factory. Oh, real far. I thought that is a really long ride. [Smiles] Well, Kaz she get pregnant so we couldn't do the way we figured out too long because she have to quit job and end of August she born. [Points to his daughter, Rae Takekawa] Well, then '27. I think it was '28 or so. Finally I bought T-model Ford and that car came in pretty handy because Tok came, too. Sometime he can take to the boat and come after the boat.

AI: So it was a little bit shorter.

TM: Yeah. Getting lots, lots easier, yeah.

<End Segment 15> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.