<Begin Segment 3>

BY: All right, let's move on. So, Mary, what was your father's name and where was he born?

MK: Hatsutaro.

BY: And where was he born?

MK: In Hiroshima-ken, Japan.

BY: And when and why did your father come to the U.S.?

MK: When Grandfather came first time, then he went back and came back and got my father. Because he finished school and was growing up, and so he came back with Grandfather.

BY: And what did he do?

MK: He stayed with Grandfather Shinmatsu and in Hood River, he did all those orchard kind of work, wherever there was a job, they did, so my father worked on an orchard, apple orchard.

BY: And Frances, do you know anything about your father's early life in the U.S.?

FN: No, not really.

BY: Okay, all right. And what was your father like?

MK: Well, I really don't know, but he liked to take pictures later on in life.

BY: How about Frances, what was your father like?

FN: My father was always like a little jokester, he always liked to be in front of the camera, I think. [Laughs]

BY: And he took picture, too, it sounds like?

FN: (Yes). I mean, every time there was a picnic or something, he would be right in the front row, you could see where he was.

BY: Anything else about him that stands out in your memory?

FN: Just that he was a hard worker.

BY: Okay, great. Okay, let's switch to your mother. What was your mother's name and where was she born?

MK: Kinuyo Sugita, she was born in Hiroshima-ken also.

BY: What kind of work did your mother's family do in Japan?

MK: I really don't remember.

BY: Okay, that's okay. And do you know, Frances, by any chance?

FN: Well, my uncle that we went to visit, he was retired by then, but then they had a farm raising rice and later bonsai trees and so forth. So I don't really know if that's what they started out with or not.

BY: But it sounds like they were farmers then, maybe.

FN: I think so.

BY: And do you know, did they live right in Hiroshima or outside of town?

FN: They didn't get the brunt of the atomic bomb, so they lived in the country.

BY: And how did your mother meet your father?

MK: Through an arranged marriage. Then later they were doing "picture bride," but I think theirs was an arranged marriage.

BY: Did your father, after he came to the United States, did he go back to Japan to marry your mother?

FN: Yes, he did.

BY: Okay. And so when did your mother come to the United States? Do you know, Frances?

FN: Well, I think probably after 1918.

BY: Okay. And what was your mother like?

MK: She was very gentle, worked hard. I thought she was a pretty lady. [Laughs]

BY: How about you, Frances? What was your mother like?

FN: Well, she was always kind. And she wasn't, you know, you knew when she was mad because she'll say, "Tsuya."

BY: Oh, she called you by your real name?

FN: (Yes), Tsuya. [Laughs]

BY: Do you have any stories about your mother that you could share with us?

FN: I can't remember too much.

BY: Okay, that's okay.

<End Segment 3> - Copyright © 2022 Densho. All Rights Reserved.