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TI: So today is Saturday, March 27, 2023. We are in Harrah, Washington, which is right outside of Wapato.

SI: It's really... our address is Wapato.

TI: Wapato. So Lon said we're actually technically in Harrah.

SI: We're only one mile from Harrah, but we don't belong.

TI: To Harrah?

SI: Yeah, our address is not Harrah, Washington, it's Wapato.

TI: Yeah, Wapato. And for people who don't know where Wapato is, it's right outside of Yakima.

SI: Yeah.

TI: So I think a lot of people know, have heard of Yakima.

SI: Yeah, I don't know how many miles, not much. Fifteen miles or something.

TI: And we're here doing an interview with Shizu Fujita Inaba. I'm going to use "Shiz" during the interview. And in the room with me is Yuka Murakami, who is running the camera, and assisting Yuka is Kimi Engelbrecht. And then I'm doing the interview, Tom Ikeda, and I'm doing this on behalf of Densho. So, Shiz, thank you so much for being here, I'm really excited. So I'm going to just start from the beginning and talk about your family history. But the first question I always ask is, can you tell me where and when you were born?

SI: I was born at Portland Hospital in Portland, but I'd lived in Milwaukee. See, we were twins. I think we went to be delivered in the hospitals instead of home.

TI: Oh, so they knew that your mom was going to deliver twins.

SI: Yeah, I think so.

TI: Okay. Because would it have been more common to do like a home birth type of thing?

SI: I think it's more dangerous when you have two kids. You don't know when one's going to come out and when the other's... things don't go right when you have twins.

TI: Right. And then what was the date of your birth?

SI: September 19, 1929.

TI: And what was the name given to you at birth?

SI: Just Shizu, S-H-I-Z-U, Fujita.

TI: And did you have a middle name?

SI: No, nothing.

TI: And how about your sister? What was her given name?

SI: My sister is Mieko. My twin sister?

TI: Uh-huh.

SI: Okay.

TI: And while we're talking about your sister, what other siblings did you have?

SI: The first one was Sumi, S-U-M-I, and then second was Fude, F-U-D-E, Fude. And then it was my, the twins, we were next, and then my brother was Tom, and Shigeru is his Japanese name.

TI: Got it.

SI: And then after camp, in camp, my other brother, he's in Canada right now, Donald Jiro Fujita, Donald Jiro, J-I-R-O. That's all I have.

TI: So there were six children?

SI: No, that's only five, isn't it?

TI: No, six. There's Sumi, Fude, Shizu, Mieko, Tom and Donald.

SI: Oh, yeah. I guess, yeah, that's right.

TI: So five siblings plus you, so six total. And let's first talk about your father. Can you tell me your father's name?

SI: Seijiro, S-E-I-J-I-R-O.

TI: And do you know from where in Japan he lived?

SI: All I know is Shiga-ken. I don't know... I used to think... let's see. I can't really see where it was, Shiga-ken. I don't remember what town it was. I went to visit when I was nine, but I don't remember everything.

TI: No, that's fine.

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