<Begin Segment 5>

SY: Was it really in 1920 when you were born, you had so many older siblings. I mean, your oldest brother, Hiromu, actually married was, at that time, a woman in your neighborhood named Pearl DuBry, and she was a Caucasian woman that he'd grown up with in the neighborhood. Back then, interracial marriages were uncommon. How did your family and Pearl's family respond to this marriage?

MN: Well, I was only six months old, or maybe I wasn't born yet. But anyway, when I was old enough to realize the situation, there didn't seem to be any problems. (...)

SY: Pearl's parents?

MN: (...) We had a little place on the property where Pearl and Hiromu lived. And then across the street there was another house where her family lived.

SY: And did her family live there all the time?

MN: Well, they moved there. It was a house that we had built for them and they had -- she had lots of brothers and sisters. But I think they were just brothers and the father and mother that lived in that house.

SY: Now why did your parents, or your family, build a house for Pearl's family?

MN: Well, I don't know. I guess they needed a house. [Laughs] And he was kind of the -- employed as a guardian. And it was...

SY: Pearl's father was employed?

MN: Yeah, as a guardian 'cause George was not of age, he was not twenty-one yet. But the property was bought in his name. So I think they needed a guardian. I'm not sure, but...

SY: A guardian for George?

MN: (No), for the property...

SY: Oh, for the property.

MN: And the business and everything, I think.

SY: Oh, I see.

MN: So he was employed, I would say, this is Grandpa DuBry was employed.

SY: So you called him Grandpa DuBry?

MN: Grandpa DuBry and Grandma DuBry. And she was a wonderful cook. She used to bake, and bake bread, so good.

SY: So did you used to go over to their house to eat?

MN: Well, sometimes. And then, and then she would bake bread and bring it to us, sometimes.

SY: So you saw their family often.

MN: Yeah.

SY: So their family, was their family more a part of your family?

MN: Not really a part. It was just Grandpa and Grandma because the brothers had all moved.

SY: Oh.

<End Segment 5> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.