<Begin Segment 3>

BY: And how about your mother? What was her name and where and when was she born?

DR: She was Masako Nagashima. She was born in a little town at the southern tip of Kyushu. I can't remember the name right offhand, it was Amakusa.

BY: This is your mom?

DR: My mom.

BY: Okay. And so then when did she come to the U.S.?

DR: Actually, she was born here in Seattle.

BY: Wait a second, I thought you said she was from Amakusa.

DR: That's where my grandparents were from, I'm sorry.

BY: Oh, okay.

DR: But they were living in Seattle and she was born here.

BY: Okay. So your mother's parents were born, or were from Amakusa, Japan.

DR: Yeah, yeah. (I assume so).

BY: They came here and then she was born.

DR: In Seattle.

BY: In Seattle, so she was Nisei.

DR: Right, right.

BY: And where did she grow up then, in Seattle?

DR: Well, they went back... she was born here and then as a young child, they went back to Japan for a while, and then they came back here. And she spent her... well, actually, she went to Bailey Gatzert elementary school, and then they moved to Alaska, and I believe he had a cleaners or something up there, my grandfather. And he had a grocery store on Yesler at one time, that was before they went back to Japan, I believe. No, before they went to Alaska. He had a grocery store, I think it was across the street from Tokuda Drugs on Sixteenth and Yesler.

BY: So her parents came from Japan. She was born here, her father had a grocery store, you think, and then they moved to Alaska.

DR: You know, I'm really, really foggy about what he did. I think they had a grocery store.

BY: And you think that in Alaska that he had a business? He didn't go there for fishing then?

DR: No. I think he had a dry cleaner or something. My brother Eugene could tell you stories about that part of the family.

BY: And did your mother have brothers and sisters?

DR: No, she had no siblings.

BY: And do you know how long she, how old was she when she went there and when she came back from Alaska, do you know?

DR: She graduated high school. She graduated valedictorian of Ketchikan High School. And interestingly, they had a contest for the state flag of Alaska. She came in second. And when my brother and sister and I went to Alaska to see where my mother grew up, we went to the archives and they actually had a copy of that flag.

BY: Do you remember what the design was? Is Alaska the one with the north, the constellation?

TI: Yeah, is this the official Alaska flag?

DR: Yeah, but she was number two.

BY: What was her design, do you know?

DR: You know, I have a copy of it in my apartment, but offhand, I can't remember.

BY: Because the Alaska state flag is kind of unique in that it's got that, the Big Dipper on it, doesn't it?

DR: Yeah, yeah. That was the first prize.

BY: That's really...

TI: That's a cool story.

BY: It's a really cool story.

DR: She was very talented.

BY: And so she was Nisei. Was she fluent in Japanese?

DR: Yes.

BY: And did she speak very good Japanese?

DR: Yes, and English also, right, fluent in both.

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