<Begin Segment 5>

BY: You said, though, they got married in Japan, is that right? Did I hear that right?

TH: My mother and father?

BY: (...)

TH: I think they did.

BY: So then that meant that your father came to the U.S., and then he went back to get married. And so at what point did his mother go to the shed? Was it when you first left or after he came back to get married and then he returned? Because then you've talked about how, when you visited, she came out of the shed.

TH: And she was in there ten years.

BY: So my sense -- and we talked about this in the pre-interview -- I think she may have first gone into the shed a little bit later. It's almost like, it feels like maybe when he came back and got married and then left.

TH: I kind of think it was more of that. It makes a little more sense.

TI: Because I think when we talked about it earlier, you didn't think the, like the Maruyama family didn't know that she was, like, living in a shed at that point.

TH: No.

TI: So that was, probably happened after they got married.

TH: (...)

BY: Because then you went back with your mom when you were six or seven, and that was the point she came out of the shed.

TH: (...)

TI: Right, which would have been the year.

BY: That makes sense.

TI: And that kind of makes sense, too, from your grandmother's standpoint, was, her son came back, and then for him to get married and then go back to America, probably in her mind, said, "Oh, he's not going to come back." That's probably when she really probably became more despondent and had the breakdown. Oh, so, Barb, thanks for walking us through that. Yeah, so that makes a lot of sense.

TH: Yeah, that makes sense. She was fortunate to have good neighbors, Mrs. Fujita and her daughter took good care of her when she was in the shed, took her food and water. It must have just been a dark cubbyhole, because she was so white when we went back to Japan.

TI: Well, since we're on this topic, let's talk about it. So about ten years later, you would have been... you said around six or seven?

TH: Six or seven when we went.

TI: Okay. So she's been in the shed for ten years, you go back to Japan with your mother, and did you go back with any of your... your brother or sister?

TH: No, my sister was already there. The whole idea also was to bring her back (to America) at that time. But by then she was used to the country and going to school, made friends, she didn't want to come back.

TI: And so, and your sister was living with your mother's family, the Maruyamas? Which was, like, you mentioned, in Hiroshima?

TH: (...).

TI: Seven miles out.

TH: It seemed like it was about seven, or maybe a little less.

TI: Okay. So the Hayashi mother had property in Hiroshima.

TH: Yes.

TI: So that was probably pretty valuable property then, I'm thinking.

TH: It was when the war broke out, yes. And she gave most of that land to (Mrs.) Fujita and her daughter. She asked my dad if he wanted any of it and he said he didn't. But she gave part of it to my cousin that was a doctor. (...) He built a building and after the war, when I went to visit, he had his office in there. So he did keep part of it. It stayed in the family, I mean.

BY: So the woman and her daughter she gave the property to, were they the ones who took care of her when she was in the shed?

TH: (...)

BY: So you said that your grandmother gave her property to a woman and her daughter.

TH: Yes.

BY: So my question is, were they the ones who took care of her while she was in the shed?

TH: Yes, right.

BY: Okay, that makes sense.

TI: Yeah, that makes sense. But then going back to what you remember, so you're, like, six or seven, and your grandmother comes out of the shed and you said she was so white and frail. And what was the reaction of the people... first, when she came out? What was her demeanor? What was she like when she came out?

TH: To me, it was, she was just normal. She was my grandmother and I didn't think anything of it. I just thought, wow. Used to say in Japanese, "Shiroi," and my mother says, "Don't say that." [Laughs]

TI: And so why do you think she came out of the shed after having been there for so long?

TH: I don't know. I think she was so happy that part of her family was here.

TI: And do you know, after that, did she then just come out of the shed and stay out of the shed?

TH: (...)

TI: Oh, so it was a really breakthrough for her then.

TH: Uh-huh. But with all that property, I don't know how much property it was, but maybe it wasn't much at all. But she had enough to survive.

TI: Do you remember any reaction from your mother?

TH: (...)

TI: Any reaction from your mother when her mother-in-law came out of the shed?

TH: Same as I did, she thought she was so white, but that's it. Nothing else was ever said.

TI: Thank you. It's such an interesting story.

TH: It is. I wish I would have asked more. It's just like young people now should ask their parents more.

TI: But it just tells me, sometimes, the heartbreak that happens when your child leaves. And you mentioned, I think earlier, how your dad was kind of spoiled, right, he was naughty? And so (his) mother must have, yeah, spoiled him a little bit, and just loved him so much, and then to have him leave, must have been such...

TH: Right, yes.

<End Segment 5> - Copyright © 2022 Densho. All Rights Reserved.