<Begin Segment 3>

BN: And then, like I said, I don't want to spend too much time on your mom, but if you could just tell us a little bit about her and her family.

DA: Okay. Well, my mom was the second, again, of four kids.

BN: And then what was her birth name?

DA: Yaeko. Yaeko Kanogawa was her maiden name. Born up in Tacoma area, later, I guess they moved into the city of Seattle. Four kids, two girls, two boys, she's the only one living now. Yeah, they owned a little store, grocery store in Seattle before the war in which they lost everything once they had to move. Again, my grandfather on my mom's side was taken somewhere, not sure where, and my mom's family briefly moved to, I believe, Minidoka, and then they decided, or my grandfather decided to try and go back to Japan. And the boat left without 'em and then they came back to Crystal City where they were again reunited. So that was good for them. They were all, sounds like they were able to live together, a lot different than some of the other camps. They had their kitchen, they had their own room, they had privacy. So for my mom and her family, it sounded like a lot better situation than some of the other family like my dad's side at Poston and in barracks or whatnot. Upon the end of camp, they moved here to Los Angeles, following, I believe, their minister. Said they were relocating to Los Angeles, I have a feeling that's why they came here. That's what I understand, so that makes sense to me.

BN: And then once they were here, your parents then met and got married.

DA: Yeah, got married, and that was the last time my dad was at the Koyasan, it seems to me. [Laughs] Not the most religious guy.

BN: I've heard that story before, where church was like, was a means to another end, it didn't necessarily have to do with religion.

DA: That could have been my dad's idea. But it worked.

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