<Begin Segment 2>

TI: So let me ask you about your mother. What was her name?

JK: Her name was Tsuru Oi.

TI: Tsuru Oi?

JK: Oi, O-I.

TI: And where in Japan did she come from?

JK: She came from the same area, Yamagata, in Fukushima-ken.

TI: And then so how did your mother and father...

JK: Well, after my father came here, and he was here for five years, and he sent for her. And my mother is the, is the, I think, the second daughter of eight, eight girls in the family, eight girls and the one, one boy. And somehow they arranged to send her over here to marry my father. Now, she was very reluctant, actually, a reluctant bride. She wasn't very happy to come over here, but then when she did come over here, and they were married in Seattle.

TI: Well, before we go to that, so when you say she was a reluctant bride, what was she reluctant about?

JK: Well, she didn't want to come over here. She had a good job where she was, and her father, who would be my grandfather, why, he insisted that all the girls get a good education, that they would be educated just like any of the men would be. And so she was teaching school at the time when the family, I think it was one of these "picture bride" affairs, and the family there insisted that she come over here and marry my father.

TI: And what kind of person was she, and how would you describe her?

JK: Oh, she was a very diligent, very hard-working woman, very, very strong, strong-willed and very responsible.

TI: And how would you describe the relationship with your mother and father?

JK: Well, they get along fine. There was no animosity, there was no... I don't think that they showed any particular love for each other, except that they did act like husband and wife.

<End Segment 2> - Copyright ©2008 Densho and the Topaz Museum. All Rights Reserved.