<Begin Segment 6>

TI: Let me, I want to go back to your father. And can you tell me where he was born and what his family did in Japan?

BK: You know, it's really funny, because we know a lot about my mother's side, where Mom came from and where her family lived and all that. But we really don't know too much about Dad's side. It's the same with the Kashiwagis, we know a lot about my mother's side, but we don't know anything about Dad.

TI: But you know that he, at some point, he went from Japan to Hawaii first.

BK: Well, my folks, my father did. But then my mother came from Japan straight to Isleton. I don't think she was, she wasn't a "picture bride."

TI: But was it the case that your father came first to Isleton, then your mother joined him?

BK: Yeah.

TI: But I'm curious, do you know about what time your father went from Hawaii to California?

BK: No.

JS: When were your parents married, do you know the year?

BK: I have no idea.

TI: Well, then you mentioned your mother. So tell me about your mother's family. Where from Japan was she from?

BK: They're from Kumamoto, too, yeah. And my mother had a sister in Hawaii, and so when my half-brother, I had a half-brother. So when he was in the service and when he got (wounded), he was stationed at the hospital in Hawaii. And so he looked (them) up, so that's when we found out that we have relatives in Hawaii.

TI: So half-brother, this was on your mother's...

BK: My mother's side. My mother was married before.

TI: And how did your half brother get to Hawaii, because she was in Japan when she was married?

BK: No, he was in the service. Because he kind of left the family. He wasn't part of the family anymore.

TI: Your half-brother.

BK: Yeah.

TI: And so where was your half-brother born?

BK: He was born in Japan.

TI: In Japan?

BK: Yeah.

TI: And then from Japan, he made his way to Hawaii.

BK: And then, yeah, and then I think lived in San Francisco. And we didn't know that he existed either.

TI: And do you know what happened to your mother's first wedding, or first marriage, I mean?

BK: No. I think when you're kids, you don't talk about things like that. [Laughs] I think you people as Sanseis or something... 'cause even among our four kids, the oldest doesn't seem to care that I was in camp. And then our oldest son, he doesn't seem to care. I talk about it. And then my third, which is a girl, and she's very, very interested. So she knows a lot about the camps I went to, what I did, and then my youngest son, he's interested also. So it's funny how...

JS: The older ones are not.

BK: Yeah. Well, even among our friends, I said, "Don't you talk about, you know, when you were in camp?" And they said, "What for? It's gone." And I said, "Here I'm thinking about writing a book, how they sent me to four concentration camps."

JS: Do you share your memories of Isleton with your children?

BK: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, when they got old enough, there's a cemetery in Rio Vista for Asians, and so we used to take them every year. First we would go over there to the cemetery and then we would go Mickey Grove Park and... yeah. And then even now with just the two of us, we try to go Memorial Day weekend.

JS: So you would go to Mickey Grove Park, but would also go to the town of Isleton as part of the pilgrimage?

BK: No.

JS: No. Just to Rio Vista.

<End Segment 6> - Copyright (c) 2009 Densho and Preserving California's Japantowns. All Rights Reserved.