Densho Digital Archive - Mas Hashimoto Interview (denshovh-hmas-01-0001)

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TI: Okay, so today is Wednesday, July 30th, we're in Watsonville -- July 30, 2008 -- and we're in Kizuka Hall. And on camera is Dana Hoshide, and I'm interviewing, I'm Tom Ikeda. And so let me start off the interview, Mas, by asking where and when were you born?

MH: I was born in Watsonville, California, September 15, 1935. So I'm seventy-two years old.

TI: And when you say where, so Watsonville, where in Watsonville were you born?

MH: 110 Union Street. I was born in the bedroom of, of our house. And Mrs. Matsuoka was the, the midwife, and her son, Jack Matsuoka, wrote a cartoon book about Poston, Arizona, Block 211.

TI: Great, yeah, I've seen that book. That's a great book. And was that pretty common for kids your age, born in 1935, to be delivered by a, a midwife?

MH: I believe so. There were very few doctors, and doctors were expensive.

TI: And when you were born, what name did your parents give you at birth?

MH: At birth it was Masaru, M-A-S-A-R-U. All the brothers have Japanese names but no English names, and no middle names.

TI: So I'm curious, as nicknames, did any, did you or your brothers ever pick up English, like, nicknames?

MH: No. It was a variation of their Japanese name, like Tadashi would be Tad, Mitsuru will be Mits. So, although I had one that was a little different.

TI: Okay. So let's go into your family history, because I'm curious about first your father. Can you tell me his name and where he was from?

MH: My father is Ikuta Hashimoto. He was born in 1877 in Fukuoka-ken. In March of 1899, he signed a contract in Hawaii working for the Honolulu sugar plantation.

TI: And before we go there, so what did his family do in Japan?

MH: I have absolutely no idea about my grandparents on either side.

TI: How about siblings? Did he have siblings?

MH: I don't know. I know my mother had a brother, but no, I really, that part of the history has been lost.

TI: Okay. So back to your father, 1899, he signs up to be a contractor.

MH: He signed a contract to work in the sugar plantation. He was to work twenty-six days a month for fifteen dollars in gold a month, twenty-six days out of the month. Two dollars and fifty cents was set aside from his wages for his voyage back home. His wife was paid ten dollars a month. But the work was so hard that she divorced him and went back to Japan.

TI: So I'm impressed with your, your knowledge of these details, the amount, the gold, how did you find out these things?

MH: I had the contract. My father, I donated the contract to the Japanese American Historical Society of San Francisco, but I read that contract. And then when I was in Hawaii, I saw that same exact contract again with a different person's name. So that was a standard contract. It was for three years, my father signed two of those. So he was there for six years.

TI: And so when you think back to that contract, so it told the how much it would make, how much they would have to put aside to, I guess, in theory, when they were done, to return back to Japan?

MH: Right. The company held that two dollars and fifty cents in trust, so they didn't want any, any problems with anybody being sent back to Japan. But my father didn't use that money to go back to Japan.

TI: Well, let's go back to your, his first wife. So you mentioned, you said the work was really hard for her, so she decided to go back to Japan?

MH: She was disillusioned, so she divorced him and went back, and my father was brokenhearted. Now, were there any children? I don't know. I don't know if I have any half-brothers or half-sisters. I have absolutely no knowledge of that.

TI: And so if, did you ever try to go back to Japan and pick up her, her life path in terms of what happened to her?

MH: Not really, no. I haven't.

TI: And do you know what his first wife's name was?

MH: I don't know that either.

TI: Or her last name?

MH: No.