Densho Digital Repository - Katsugo Miho Interview III (Densho ID: ddr-densho-1022-3-11)

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MN: Okay. So, Kaz, this is tape two of session number three. And you know, I was wondering, for your family, what were they, where were they and what were they doing up to the outbreak of war?

MN: Well, let's say, okay, 1941, I started university in September of 1941. At that point, my brother Katsuaki, immediately older than me, had already graduated from the university and he was working for the city and county as an ambulance attendant already. He had applied for Tulane Medical School and he accepted to go to Tulane. But medical school, he anticipated the expenses to be such that his plan, if I remember correctly, was to work one or two years as a city and county ambulance attendant, enough to get a nest egg to go to Tulane where he had already been accepted. My sister Fumiye had already graduated from... well, Katsuso, Paul, had already graduated, and he had already gone to Yale, decided to go to Yale. Not divinity at that point, but I think it was a prep school or something, going to divinity school anyway. And Fumiye had graduated after Paul, although Paul was younger. Fumiye had got delayed on the schooling, so she went, graduated from university and had gone to Japan to teach at Doshisha girl's school or whatever, university, I think. Because of the influence of this professor who had come from Doshisha, Dr. Takakusu, who was a renowned lecturer on Buddhism. He wondered, he took or encouraged Fumiye to join him and go back to Japan and teach at Doshisha. And she was in Doshisha in 1941.

My older sister Tsukie had worked at Maui Soda as the boss's secretary for two or three years, and had gone back to Japan thereafter. Not back to, but gone to Japan as a, some kind of YBA convention or something like that, decided to stay back. And basically, I think, because of her bilingual ability, considering, at that time, bilingualism was very rare and she got a job. And eventually got married, was already married in 1941 and living in Japan.