<Begin Segment 7>

Mary I: Now, you said earlier that you did have a sister, but she died.

Mitsu I: She died right after our mother died. Our mother died leaving four boys, and then had a baby, and she died one, about one month after. It was breast cancer.

Mary I: Oh, your, your mother died of breast cancer?

Mitsu I: Uh-huh.

Mary I: And then the daughter...

Mitsu I: Died.

Mary I: ...died after that.

Mitsu I: Right after that.

Mary I: Yeah. What did the, what did your sister die of?

Mitsu I: I don't know, I really don't know. 'Cause I think in those days, they never had no powdered milk or anything like that, so I really don't know.

Mary I: And with your brothers, they didn't all stay in Mission, right? There was one brother, I believe, who left?

Mitsu I: Yes. The youngest brother, Shigemi, he was only about three years old. After our mother died, our mother's side of the family in Japan wanted someone to take over, because they never had no children, and needed someone to take over the family, so my father sent him back to Japan. I think one of the father's brothers took him back.

Mary I: So he went over when he was three?

Mitsu I: Yeah, around three or four.

Mary I: Did you ever maintain any contact with him over the years?

Mitsu I: No, I didn't, but maybe my father might have.

Mary I: So you never really knew this brother?

Mitsu I: No, not really, no. 'Cause we never met 'til we went back in 1946. That was the first time we ever went back.

Mary I: In 1946? So he would have been... well, he would have been an adult.

Mitsu I: He would be... well, I was born in '24. I went back in '46, would be about...

Mary I: You would have been a teenager.

Mitsu I: Yeah.

Mary I: Was that a common practice for Japanese families to do that?

Mitsu I: Yes, I think, it's a practice in Japan that if you don't have any children, you adopt somebody or someone to take over the family. Yeah, it does happen.

Mary I: So when you met him, what was that like?

Mitsu I: Well, when we went back in 1946, one time he asked me why was he picked to come back. And I said, "I don't know," I didn't know, didn't know what to say.

Mary I: Do you think he had a difficult time with that?

Mitsu I: I think he had a difficult time because he didn't know anybody, and I think, well, I think he spoke Japanese a little bit, but he wouldn't have any friends, anyway.

Mary I: You said when your mother died, that would have been early on. The three of you boys left would have been quite young still, right?

Mitsu I: Yes.

Mary I: When she passed away. How old would you have been?

Mitsu I: Well, I would have been about maybe five or six, and the other brother would be seven, and Tsutao would be about eight or nine.

Mary I: So your father had to care for all of you by himself.

Mitsu I: Yes, 'cause he never married afterwards. So we grew up all by ourselves.

Mary I: Did you, was that very difficult since you didn't have a mother?

Mitsu I: No, I didn't think... [Laughs]

<End Segment 7> - Copyright © 2005 Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre and Densho. All Rights Reserved.