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TL: You've talked at other times about your interests in natural medicines and healing. Did -- is this about when it...

YB: Yes, more so. I believed in it even before that 'cause Mother, at home, always went down to Chinatown to the herb shop, write out a big Japanese character, which Chinese could read as long as it was an herb character, and they would understand. She'd come back with a bag full of stuff, and brew it up, smell it through. "Now, you drink this," and I'd hold my nose and drink it. [Laughs] She says, "Don't do that. Now drink it all down. It's good for you." And she'd have a herb for every problem. And I would take it, but if anybody got sick, she would take care of them too. And she spent more money on herbs.

And I think one of the most interesting thing was -- I will not even mention the race, but it wasn't neither one of our races -- came and says, "Mama-san," he says, "I'm sick." He says, "You give me some medicine?" And she found out that he had gonorrhea. And she says, "Oh. You wait a minute." She ran down Chinatown, got some herbs, brewed it up and gave it to him, saying, "You do this so many times a day for one week, two weeks, or whatever." Do you know at the end of the third week, he came back and he says, "Mama-san, I'm all well. You help my friend now." [Laughs]

And it worked, but Mother was very, very conscious about that 'cause the family had been doctors for thirty-five generation, and she wanted to be one. And no way in Japan in those days, women weren't supposed to become professional doctors or anything. But she got to learn a lot from -- Grandpa says, "That's foolish." He says, "I'm going to get a tutor for you girls." They got to learn more than the boys, 'cause he would teach them everything.

<End Segment 23> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.