<Begin Segment 24>

DG: Okay Richard, now, one of things I'm not sure about, did we mention earlier that your father's name was Ira?

RM: That's, yeah, English yeah, American.

DG: Where did he get that name?

RM: Well, I guess Itsuyuki was too hard to pronounce. I guess Ira was pretty easy, so I think he just got it.

DG: Well, we were talking about this at the break that's why I'm bringing it up now. And your own Japanese name besides Richard was...

RM: Huh?

DG: Your own name, what was your Japanese name?

RM: Kenitsu.

DG: So part of your father's name then.

RM: Yeah. Itsu, yeah.

DG: Did your family call you that at home?

RM: Yeah, my mother used to call me Ken. Not Itsu so much, just Ken.

DG: And did they speak English at home or Japanese?

RM: Well, they tried speak more English to learn English so we didn't get to learn Japanese too well.

<End Segment 24> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.