<Begin Segment 2>

BY: So, Mary, what was your paternal grandfather's name?

MK: Shinmatsu.

BY: Can you say that again? Shinmatsu? Where was he born?

MK: Hiroshima, Japan, Hiroshima-ken.

BY: And when did your grandfather come to the United States?

MK: He came when all the men from Japan started coming, when all the other Japanese men started coming.

BY: Okay. And what do you know about your grandfather's wives and children?

MK: When he came, he was a bachelor, you know. And all I know is later, he went back to Japan and got married. And he came back to America with his wife and did all kinds of work. But of course, mostly they were doing apple orchards and orchard work. So he and his wife worked around the orchards and they had quite a few kids. [Laughs] About ten.

BY: Frances, do you know your grandfather's first wife's name?

FN: No, I don't.

BY: And do you know how many kids they had?

FN: Well, like she said, he was married several times, so he had several children with different wives.

BY: Did he have more than two wives?

FN: I don't know.

BY: How many wives did your grandfather have, do you think?

TI: Do you know your grandfather's first wife's name?

MK: No, not really. No, I've forgotten.

TI: And then how many wives?

FN: At least he had two, because my father was the firstborn.

BY: Of the first wife?

FN: Uh-huh.

BY: Okay, so your father was the firstborn of your grandfather's first wife, okay.

MK: He had... my grandfather? Two.

BY: Okay, two. So, Frances, your father was the firstborn of your grandfather's first wife. Do you know if he had any brothers or sisters from...

FN: The first wife?

BY: Yeah.

FN: No, I don't think so. You can ask her, but...

BY: Okay.

TI: So how many children from the first wife?

BY: Yeah, we're just trying to understand the family tree here.

MK: Just my dad.

BY: Okay, all right, that's helpful. And then what happened to your grandfather's first wife?

MK: I don't know.

BY: And you don't know either?

FN: No.

BY: Okay. When did your grandfather marry his second wife? Do you know, Frances?

FN: No, I don't.

MK: When he came back to America, just before he came back, he had arranged marriage and got married. What was her name?

TI: Do you know the name of the second wife?

FN: The second? No, I don't.

TI: That's okay.

[Interruption]

BY: And there were at least two sons who lived with you in Mosier, right? Yoshimi and...

FN: Yeah, Kinichi.

BY: Right, and Yoshimi. So were they the children of your grandfather's second wife?

FN: Yes.

BY: But you think that there were a lot more children?

FN: Oh, yes.

BY: Okay. And how close in age were they to Mary, first of all, do you think? How much older were Kinichi and Yoshimi?

TI: What were their names again?

BY: Kinichi and Yoshimi.

MK: Quite a bit.

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