<Begin Segment 5>

AH: You gave me your father's name before, but could you repeat it?

WY: Matsusai.

AH: And did he have a middle name or not?

WY: I don't know, but I know that his first name was Matsusai Yonamine.

AH: And you didn't get a chance to talk to him too much about his own past, but did he ever tell you little things about his childhood, about growing up, aspirations that he had, what he wanted to do?

WY: No, he didn't tell me. I guess maybe he had told my older brother, but he didn't say too much to me because, well, maybe he didn't even have time for us because he used to work twelve, fourteen hours every day working in the cane fields. So when he came home he was, take a bath, eat and go sleep.

AH: Which of his siblings did you get to know? Which of your father's siblings did you get to know?

WY: Well, in Okinawa?

AH: Because he's the only one that came over?

WY: Yes.

AH: So you got to know his brother.

WY: In Okinawa. I just, I met him one time. That's only one time I met him.

AH: And when you met him, what did you see in him that resembled your father?

WY: Well, I think, I guess, the thing that resembled, I think, was the way they used to work. They worked real hard. And watching them work when I went to Okinawa and see how they used to work, I thought they, they had to work hard to survive there.

AH: So you were seeing a real Yonamine, right?

WY: Right. [Laughs]

AH: What kind of education did your father have?

WY: Well, I think my father, I don't think he finished high school, maybe went to just grammar school and then came here, because he was only seventeen years old when he came. So maybe not too much education, I think.

AH: And how would you describe his, his attitudes towards his free time insofar as he had any? Did he have hobbies or anything that he did? Did he do artwork, or did he do carpentry?

WY: No, he didn't have any kind of hobby because, I guess, like I said, he put in so much time with his work, and he didn't really have time with us also. So, I would say majority of the time, he didn't know where we were. And, like my brother, when he was going high school, he used to play football. And my brother, my older brother was a pretty good athlete, too. And so every time he used to play football for the school, Lahainaluna, and he used to do well. And my father would go to work and his workers would tell him, "Oh, your son did so good," and he didn't know what was going on, you know? Until, so, I was lucky that my brother didn't get hurt. If my brother got hurt playing football, I don't think I could have ever played football.

AH: What are the little things that you noted in your father's personality? I mean, you see him working real hard and everything, but what put a smile on his face? Did he have a sense of humor? Did he like nature? What were some of the things about him that you just recognized even without talking to him about it?

WY: Well, my father, I guess, coming from Okinawa, I thought he was a very proud man. And when he saw us play, he didn't know anything about football or baseball. But when he used to see us play, he used to be so proud that, you know... so even like when I used to play like that, and I wanted to do well so that I can make my father happy.

<End Segment 5> - Copyright © 2003 Japanese American National Museum. All Rights Reserved.