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TI: And before we come to Walnut Grove, let's talk a little bit about your mother, because they got married in Japan. So let's talk about that first. So tell me about your mother's family.

HT: That was... my father and my mother never discussed my mother's family, 'cause I think she was an orphan. So they never, we never discussed my mother's mother or anything like that, 'cause since she was kind of, being Japanese, that kind of pride, and she was an orphan, and she hasn't got no mother and father. So we kept it at that. But she was ordained as a minister eventually.

TI: Also a Buddhist minister?

HT: Yes.

TI: And what was her name?

HT: Kiyoko Yoshie Terakawa.

TI: And so your father and mother were married in Japan?

HT: Japan.

TI: And do you know how that was arranged, or what was, how did they get married?

HT: I often wondered about that, but typically in Japan it's all baishakunin, you know, they're previewed. Neighbors say, "Oh, this guy's single, this guy's..." they found a, it's like a marriage counselor in Japan. Most of the people I know in Japan, they were all married baishakunin. Not anymore, but I think he met her at, he was a teacher in some university in Japan. He was teaching, a judo instructor, kendo instructor, and he was a newspaper editor for a big newspaper when he was about twenty, nineteen, twenty. He was a very educated guy, you know. And my mother also was, but she never told me too much about her life, 'cause she was ashamed of the fact that she was an orphan. So I just never asked. So don't ask me about my mother, I don't know.

TI: But in terms of their marriage, do you think it was arranged, or do you think it was more of a love relationship?

HT: I don't know. I really can't tell you yes or no. It might be just love at first sight as far as that's concerned. My father was very secretive about those things.

<End Segment 4> - Copyright © 2010 Densho. All Rights Reserved.