Densho Digital Repository
Densho Visual History Collection
Title: Jan Kumasaka Interview
Narrator: Jan Kumasaka
Interviewer: Barbara Yasui
Location: Seattle, Washington
Date: October 18, 2022
Densho ID: ddr-densho-1000-518-1

[Correct spelling of certain names, words and terms used in this interview have not been verified.]

<Begin Segment 1>

BY: Today is October 18, 2022, and I'm here with Jan Kumasaka. We are at the Lakeshore retirement community in Seattle, Washington. My name is Barbara Yasui and I'm going to be the interviewer today, and Dana Hoshide is our videographer. So we're just going to go ahead and get started.

JK: Sure.

BY: So what was the full name that was given to you when you were born?

JK: Janice, J-A-N-I-C-E, Masako, M-A-S-A-K-O, and it was Matsuoka, M-A-T-S-U-O-K-A.

BY: Great. And when and where were you born?

JK: I was born in, I think it was Kent, Washington.

BY: And when? What was your birthday?

JK: Oh, 8/12/37.

BY: Okay. And what was your father's name?

JK: My father's name, James Masao Matsuoka, M-A-T-S-U-O-K-A.

BY: And where was he born?

JK: Gee, I don't really know.

BY: Was he born in the U.S. or in Japan?

JK: Yeah. No, he was born here.

BY: In the U.S.?

JK: Uh-huh.

BY: And do you know where he grew up?

JK: He grew up in this area.

BY: In the Seattle area?

JK: Yeah.

BY: All right.

JK: Probably more like Kent.

BY: Okay, all right. And what was your father's occupation? What did he do?

JK: He was a real estate man. He had a real estate agency on Sixth and Jackson called International Realty.

BY: And was that before or after the war that he...

JK: After.

BY: After. What did he do before the war, do you know?

JK: He was a farmer.

BY: In Kent, do you think?

JK: Yeah, he was a truck farmer.

BY: Okay, all right. And did he have his own farm or did he work for someone else?

JK: I think he had his own farm.

BY: Okay.

<End Segment 1> - Copyright © 2022 Densho. All Rights Reserved.