Densho Digital Archive - George Hiromoto Interview (denshovh-hgeorge

<Begin Segment 1>

DG: We're gonna start by asking you to say your name.

GH: My name?

DG: Full name.

GH: George Masao Hiromoto. You got that.

DG: And where and when were you born?

GH: I was born here in Courtland in 1921.

DG: I'm curious how births happened then. Was there a midwife in the area?

GH: Yeah, there were midwives, but not in our family. There were a few here and there that took care, like what you're saying, like doctor takes care of you. But midwife was doing that.

DG: So did a midwife come when you were born?

GH: Oh, no. With mine, I was born under a doctor. It used to be Dr. Primasing, the old-time doctor at Courtland. And he's the one that handled most of my family deal.

DG: Can you say his name again?

GH: Primasing, P-R-I-M-A-S-I-N-G. Primasing.

DG: And so he treated Nikkei in the area.

GH: Yeah, whoever contacted him. If you go Courtland, it's his name on the street there, Primasing.

DG: When did your parents come to this area?

GH: My father came, well, in 1880, 1890, and he and his father, my grandfather. My mother came in 1900. Let's see, I was born in '21, so I think he came around 1920 I think.

DG: So your father and your grandfather came together?

GH: Yeah, my grandfather was here before, before my father. And my father, they were in Japan, and then they came from Japan. Of course, my grandfather was farming already. So my father helped my grandfather and they started farming together.

DG: Where in Japan were they from?

GH: Yamaguchi. You ever heard of Yamaguchi? [Laughs]

DG: And what were their names?

GH: Hiromoto.

DG: Your father's first name and your grandfather's first name?

GH: My father's first name is Kiichi, K-I-I-C-H-I, and my grandfather's name was Genichiro.

DG: And where was your mother from?

GH: Yamaguchi. They're all from the same area.

DG: Did she come to marry your father? What brought her here?

GH: I think they got married... let's see. Yeah, she came and got married here when my father...

DG: And what was her name?

GH: Kichiko, K-I-C-H-I-K-O. Kichiko Fujita is the maiden name.

DG: And how many, besides you, how many children did they have and what were their names?

GH: My family? Oh, my family had four in the family: me, my sister, two sisters... three sisters, excuse me, and one brother. Five of us.

DG: Can you say --

GH: A name?

DG: -- when they were born and their names? Or just the lineup. Like who was the oldest?

GH: Well, yeah, I'm the oldest, and my sister, Toshiko, she's right below me, and then we have a brother, Haruo, Harold. And then a sister below that, Rose Hiromoto, but she got married. I don't know if you want to know the married name, Watanabe. And then my last one in the family was Susan. Somebody must have told you that, Susan. Susan Goto, yeah. Somebody told you that? She did? No, Sakata.

JS: Oh, Janet.

DG: She was on the list.

JS: Right.

DG: So what's the age difference between you and the youngest child?

GH: Susie is... she must be the same age as you?

Off camera: No, she just turned eighty. Remember we had her party?

GH: Oh, yeah, she just turned eighty.

DG: So eleven years.

GH: Yeah, eleven years.