<Begin Segment 5>

TI: And how did your father meet your mother? Yoshiko, do you know how they met?

YN: I think it was a "picture bride," wasn't it? [Inaudible] that I think, more or less, in those days.

TI: And I should ask, your father's name was? What was your father's name?

EN: Mitoshi.

TI: Mitoshi. And your mother's name was?

EN: Teyo.

TI: Teyo. So "picture brides," so it must have been an arranged marriage...

EN: In Japan.

TI: In Japan. And she came, and what was your mother like? If you, in the same way I asked about your siblings, how would you describe your mother? And I'll start with you, Yoshiko. How would you describe your mother?

YN: Oh, she was the best. She treated us so equally, and she never raised her voice. When we did dishes, we used to argue whose turn it was. She would get upset and said that she'll do it herself, and made us feel so guilty. [Laughs] She said that she was going to do it herself rather, hearing us arguing. I can remember that. But she treated us so well; she was the best.

TI: So that's interesting. So when she said that, to make you feel guilty, then you guys got quiet and then...

YN: We did it.

TI: You just did it. [Laughs] Eiko, how about you? How would you describe your mother?

EN: She was hard-working. She would take care of all the children and do all the housework and wash clothes and everything. And when she had time, she would go out on the ranch and help my father. And here, we complain if we have to do all those things, but olden days, they even put you on the back and then tie you on the back and then they go out and work in the farm. So my mother and my father really worked hard together.

<End Segment 5> - Copyright ©2008 Densho and the Watsonville - Santa Cruz JACL. All Rights Reserved.