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BY: All right. And we'll switch now to your mother. What was your... oh, what was your mother's name and where was she born?

HH: She was born Tsune, or Tsuneko, and her American name was Mabel Ito. And she was born here, not in Seattle, but in Christopher, Washington, which is now part of Auburn.

BY: So she was born in the U.S.?

HH: Yes.

BY: So she was a Nisei then.

HH: Yes, uh-huh.

BY: And do you know anything about her parents, like where they were from, what their names were?

HH: No, and I don't know when they came over here either, but their oldest child was born in Japan, and then my mom, then obviously they came to the United States and my mom was born here. And I don't know what... they also were farmers.

BY: And do you have any idea, do you think that they were from Nagano as well.

HH: Oh, I'm sorry, yeah, Nagoya.

BY: Oh, Nagoya.

HH: And my dad was Nagano.

BY: Okay, all right. And so the parents, your mother's parents were from Nagoya and came here and became farmers in Christopher, Washington.

HH: Yeah.

BY: Okay. And so then your mother was a Nisei, but did she ever go back to Japan?

HH: Right. When she was three years old, she and her younger brother, who was probably about a year and a half or so, were sent back to Japan to be raised in the Japanese culture. And my mom was there for ten years and returned to the United States when she was thirteen.

BY: And where did she live while she was in Japan?

HH: With her... would be her grandmother, yeah.

BY: In Nagoya?

HH: Uh-huh.

BY: Okay. So she was, at least her early education happened in Japan.

HH: In Japan, uh-huh.

BY: But then she came back here and went to high school in the U.S., is that right?

HH: Uh-huh. First they would have to be grade school because she had to learn English. So she went to Thomas school, which is in Auburn now.

BY: Okay, so she came back at thirteen, but because she couldn't speak English, she had to...

HH: Yeah, go to American school.

BY: I see, I see. And then did she go to an American high school then?

HH: Yes. The family then moved to Seattle and my mom went to Broadway High School, is that was it was called? I think so, yeah.

BY: Okay. And so when she returned, the family lived in the Auburn area and then moved back to Seattle.

HH: Right.

BY: And then how did your mother and father meet, do you know?

HH: It was an arranged marriage. So they didn't meet 'til, I don't know.

BY: And was there an age difference between your mother and father?

HH: Ten.

BY: Ten years' difference. So what was your father like?

HH: Outgoing, loved people, loved to entertain, generous. When we all came back to Seattle, they had a dry cleaning shop. And people would drop in to visit as well, and there were a few people that, non-Japanese that kind of really wanted a handout. And so my dad just, you know, would give him something. And one fellow that he did lend money to, I think it was fifty dollars to go to Alaska, because he wanted to earn a living. This was another Caucasian. And my dad said, "That's the last we're going to see of him and money." But the man came back, returned the money, and they were just lifelong friends after that. So he used to take us places, and it was just kind of a family thing.

BY: So it sounds like, for your father, it didn't matter what the background of the person was.

HH: Oh no, uh-uh.

BY: And how about your mother? What was she like?

HH: Pretty much like my dad. [Laughs]

BY: Was she also outgoing and gregarious?

HH: Oh, definitely. Yeah, we had all sorts of gatherings and parties, and people meeting other people and they becoming friends and part of our family. So, yeah, it was really nice.

BY: And then your father was part of, the Hirabayashi clan was large, right?

HH: Yeah, fairly large, I guess, uh-huh. They all kind of ended up in Auburn or Thomas or whatever that part of town, place was called. And they worked as farmers.

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