<Begin Segment 2>

MU: Did you grow up in Hood River?

TM: I was born -- and at about age three, I was taken to Japan by my mother.

MU: What was the purpose of that?

TM: Well, about that time, I understood that the Japanese pioneers thought that we, especially the boys, should be educated in Japan so that, for one thing, we can communicate with our parents, and for another, they thought the American education was no good. I understood that was the reason why I was sent to Japan.

MU: Okay. So you didn't stay in Hood River that long, you, at age three --

TM: I don't remember anything about Hood River when I was a child.

MU: Okay, so, you went to Fukuoka, and who took care of you there?

TM: My mother.

MU: Oh, your mother took you back, and she stayed with you?

TM: She stayed for a short while. And she became sick and died in Japan.

MU: Oh, she did. Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. So, then who took care of you?

TM: My grandpeople -- grandfolks.

MU: Grandparents. And you stayed there for what, fifteen years?

TM: Fifteen years, until I finished high school.

<End Segment 2> - Copyright © 1997 Densho. All Rights Reserved.