<Begin Segment 2>

SY: So when you went back, when you were five you went back with your mother and your father?

YY: No, I went back with my mother.

SY: And your father was still here. And she wanted to stay there, or she just wanted to leave you there? Do you know?

YY: Well, she took me and my little, my younger sister, and we stayed there I think for about two months, but I guess she wanted to leave us there, but then we put up such a... she couldn't, she couldn't leave us there. So we came back.

SY: And your younger sister was how many years younger than you?

YY: I think she was a year, just a year younger.

SY: So how many in your family, how many brothers and sisters?

YY: I have two sisters.

SY: And their names?

YY: Well, my, the oldest one is Yae, and the second one is Ruth Machiko.

SY: So you and your next younger sister both just had Japanese names, but your youngest sister they gave an American name.

YY: Right.

SY: And so is that one of your earliest memories? Do you have earlier memories as a child, than going to Japan?

YY: No, not really.

SY: It was before you started grammar school.

YY: Grammar school, right.

SY: And so do you remember where you lived?

YY: I lived in Boyle Heights, but I don't know the streets. When I started going to school, then we moved to another house in Boyle Heights, and that was on Savannah Street, between First and Second.

SY: And that was the house that you lived in 'til when? 'Til the...

YY: 'Til I was going to high school, I think.

SY: So quite a few years you lived in that house on Savannah Street. So what is your earliest memory of going to school? Do you remember your first, your first day of going to school?

YY: Not really. It's been such a long time. [Laughs]

SY: What grammar school did you go to?

YY: First Street School.

SY: First Street School. And were there a lot of Japanese children that went there?

YY: I'm pretty sure, because there was quite a few Japanese families on Savannah Street.

SY: Do you remember your neighbors?

YY: I don't remember their names.

SY: But they were, were they Japanese families?

YY: Families, uh-huh.

SY: Primarily, in your neighborhood.

YY: Primarily. There was a couple of black families, I remember, and the Mexicans, there were a couple of Mexicans. But it was quite a few... I remember there was, I think it was called Matsuda Tofu, they manufactured tofu, and that family lived there too.

SY: And were there other kids your age that you remember that you grew up with?

YY: Well...

SY: You don't have to remember their names, but there, were there?

YY: Yeah, there was, there was, let's see, one, two, three, four, there must've been about eight families on that street.

SY: That street.

YY: That we used to, that were Japanese.

SY: And they were all, all the kids, were there kids in all those families?

YY: Yeah, I'm pretty sure there were.

SY: And you all went to First Street?

YY: Uh-huh.

<End Segment 2> - Copyright © 2012 Densho. All Rights Reserved.