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BY: So today is January 23, 2023. I am interviewing Karen Yoshitomi. I'm Barbara Yasui and our videographer is Dana Hoshide, and we are recording this from the Densho studio in Seattle, Washington. All right, so I want to just start with some background information. Can you tell me what your full name is?

KY: Karen Yoshitomi.

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

KY: I was born in Spokane, Washington, in 1962.

BY: And what generation are you?

KY: Sansei.

BY: Okay, great. I know that you know a little bit about your grandparents, so I'd like you to just share briefly about them. So first of all, your paternal grandparents, the Kishis, can you tell me a little bit about them?

KY: Sure. Canada Baachan and Jiichan, as we called them, or Cascade Baachan and Jiichan, landed in Steveston, British Columbia. And that's where my father was born. They were boat builders, they were Kishi and Sons.

BY: And then your maternal grandparents?

KY: Mom and Dad, or Baachan and Jiichan. Jiichan came over first and he worked in a sawmill in the Snoqualmie mountain area. Sorry, I'll back up there. Jiichan came to America first and he worked in a sawmill in Snoqualmie. He later went back to Japan and brought back Baachan as his new wife, and they lived in Thomas, Washington, which is now in the Auburn area.

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