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NI: So, can you give me your full name including Japanese name, and your birth date?

BH: Yeah. My name is William Tasaburo Hashizume, and I was born in Mission, B.C. on the 22nd of June, 1922. That makes me about eighty-three years old.

NI: Wow. And your parents, what are their names?

BH: My parents, the father was born in Wakayama-ken, Kainan city in Wakayama-ken. And my mother was born in Yoshida-cho in Ehime-ken. They were married in 1912 or '13, and they settled in Mission. I was born in Mission as well as, all my siblings are born in Mission. Of the siblings, myself, my younger sister and another younger sister are the only ones living. All the rest of them passed away.

NI: Can you give me the names of your siblings?

BH: Yeah. The eldest was Eiichi John, and I think he passed away some time in '88. The second son was Yujiro, he lived in Tokyo, he lived in Japan from around age six or seven. He was sent there by my parents, and he went through high school, university, and he worked as, he worked for a company and later he set up his own company which, which rents out movie equipment to various producers. And his business was pretty good. He passed away about five or six years ago. The eldest daughter was named Hiroko.

NI: Your sister.

BH: My eldest sister was named Hiroko, but she died at the age of about five due to an accident on the farm.

NI: In Mission?

BH: Huh?

NI: In Mission?

BH: In Mission, yes. And then the second eldest sister is Toyoko, she passed away about twenty-four years ago. And the next Tayoko, she passed away in... she passed away maybe three or four years ago in Spain.

NI: She was living in Spain?

BH: Yes, she was living in Spain. And myself, and then my younger sister Seiko, she married Fudge Inamoto, they live in Don Mills right now. And my youngest sister, Wakako, she lives in Hawaii. She married a civilian after the war, American civilian after the war, and they now live in Hawaii. Now, of all the four -- of all the siblings, the ones that lived elsewhere like in Spain, Tokyo, Hawaii, they're all rich. [Laughs] Only, only the ones that lived here are the poor siblings.

NI: The ones who stayed in Canada?

BH: Yeah. Ironic.

NI: How about your parents? Do you know their birth years and years of death?

BH: Yes, I do. I think I have it here somewhere.

NI: Oh, that's okay, if it's easily accessible. We can get this later.

BH: Okay, all right.

<End Segment 1> - Copyright © 2005 Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre and Densho. All Rights Reserved.