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TI: And so what was your father's name?

TH: Shinichi Hayashi.

TI: And where was he born?

TH: Hiroshima.

TI: And do you know when he was born?

TH: 1885.

TI: Okay, '85. And so he was forty years old when you were born, roughly?

TH: Probably.

TI: So let's talk about your father a little bit. Tell me about his family and how he was raised.

TH: He was an only child. He was probably spoiled. He stole a tree someplace and planted it in his mother's yard. And when I went back to Japan, it was a big tree by then. But anyway, I think he was a little naughty, because being an only child and spoiled.

TI: Oh, so it was an interesting story. So someone told you that was a stolen tree that your father...

TH: I think it was. I don't think they had nurseries in Hiroshima.

TI: So only child, and how about his parents?

TH: I think his father passed... I didn't ever ask, his father apparently passed away when he was quite young, and so he was going to come to America to make a better, save a lot of money and take it back to his mother. And when he came, he left home, being an only child, she had a nervous breakdown.

TI: Before we go there, I want to know, if his father died when he was quite young, and he was an only child, do you know how the mother supported the family?

TH: Well, she had a lot of land and rentals, I think. I think that was her only income.

TI: Oh, so it's interesting. So as the only child, your father, and the son, he wanted to go to America to make money. And you mentioned (his) mother had a nervous breakdown. So talk about that. Why did (his) mother have that nervous breakdown?

TH: His mother.

TI: Yeah, his mother.

TH: I think without a husband, now without a child, I think that just, something snapped and she moved into the shed, she wouldn't come out for ten years.

TI: Okay. And your father then, even though your mother didn't want him to go, he chose still to go to America. But you mentioned his thought was that he would just go there to make money and then return to Japan?

TH: Right. And I think that was the thought of a lot of Issei parents, you know, kind of earn some money.

TI: So tell me what you know of his early life in America? So he came to America. Do you know about when he came?

TH: My mother was seventeen or eighteen, she was born in 1900.

TI: Okay. But your father, when he came the first time, I have, he came in, like, 1902, is when he came, does that sound about right?

TH: Uh-huh, that could be.

TI: So he was about seventeen years old. And as a seventeen-year-old young man, to me, it's kind of astounding when I think of someone seventeen, here, they'd still be in high school. And to think about him going to a different country, not really knowing the language and the customs. Seems like a pretty extraordinary thing, to me.

TH: It was quite an experience for all of those young men. I could get... I could tell you about his two roommates. They knew nothing about farming (and became a doctor). Dr. Tanaka and Mr. Takeoka, (who became a lawyer), and my dad. He lived on the farm helping take care of the pigs or whatever. And one of the pigs got out, and Mr. Takeoka went running to the farmhouse and said, "Hey, Boshin, bacon run away." [Laughs] I'll always remember that was so funny.

TI: "Bacon run away." [Laughs]

TH: Yeah, and that's how much English they knew.

TI: And who told you that story?

TH: My dad, years ago.

TI: So tell me, what was your dad like? How would you describe him?

TH: Very quiet. My mother was very (chatty), so he was just a quiet person.

<End Segment 2> - Copyright © 2022 Densho. All Rights Reserved.