<Begin Segment 5>

TI: So let's now talk about your mother. Your mother, so you mentioned that she was from the Hiroshima area.

FO: Yeah, she was from the city, yeah.

TI: The city.

FO: That's why, her mother was killed in the atomic blast, yeah. So they lived in the city.

TI: So let's talk about that a little bit. So when your family found out that Hiroshima was bombed, how did your mother find out about the death of, I guess, your grandmother?

FO: I guess through letter, I guess.

TI: But it must have been very frightening when you heard about the bombing at Hiroshima because your family was there.

FO: I was working in the apple drier that Sunday. We were listening to the radio while we were working, and they said Pearl Harbor attacked.

TI: Oh, Pearl Harbor. We'll get to that a little bit later. And so your mother's family lived in the city, and you mentioned that they were pharmacists?

FO: Yeah, well, dealing in medicine, I guess. I don't know what they called it there.

TI: And do you remember your mother's maiden name?

FO: Toku Fujisaka.

TI: Fujisaka. And how did your mother and father meet?

FO: Well, I guess it must have been family arranged, I guess.

TI: Like a baishakunin?

FO: Yeah, I don't know.

TI: Because at this point, your father's first wife had died, and so did your father go back to Japan, or do you know how they made that arrangement? Or was she sent over as a "picture bride"? Do you know how that worked?

FO: I think their case, I think it was family arranged. Unfortunately, I'm not too sure. [Laughs]

TI: And how about the age difference? Were they about the same age, or was your father older than your mother?

FO: Oh, yeah. Mostly men, anyway, were older.

TI: About how much older do you think your father was?

FO: Maybe about six, seven years maybe.

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