Densho Digital Repository
Densho Visual History Collection
Title: Helen T. Sasaki Interview
Narrator: Helen T. Sasaki
Interviewer: Patricia Wakida
Location: Emeryville, California
Date: April 7, 2022
Densho ID: ddr-densho-1000-505-1

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PW: All right. Today is April 7, 2022, we're in Emeryville, California. I'm Patricia Wakida, and I'm with Helen Yokoi Sasaki. Thank you so much for coming. So we'll start with some questions about your family and your parents' background. Let's start with when were you born and where were you born?

HS: I was born in Stockton, California. We lived in Linden, actually, which is outside of Stockton. But when my mother was just about ready to have me, we went to a midwife's home in the city of Stockton. And I was born on December 10, 1937.

PW: Was it a Japanese midwife?

HS: Yes, it was a Japanese midwife who did that for all the Japanese community members town, in Stockton, and those surrounding farm areas around Stockton.

PW: What was your full name that was given to you when you were born?

HS: It's Helen Toshiko Yokoi.

PW: And can you tell me what your parents' names were?

HS: My father's name was Frank Noriyasu Yokoi. My mother's is Yuki, her maiden name was Sato, and, of course, it was Yokoi when she was married.

PW: And do you know where your parents were born and roughly what year they were born?

HS: My father (did not know exactly) where, but he said (it was in) San Francisco, because his father used to work in the fields near Stockton and San Francisco. And when my grandmother was ready to give birth, they went somewhere in San Francisco. His birthday was January 27, 1913. My mother was actually born in Sacramento, and I'm not sure when her parents moved to Sacramento because they actually started in Japan. But my mother was born when they were in Sacramento, and they ran a manju shop. And her birthday was January 2, 1915.

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