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RP: How about your parents? What was your father's name?

KN: Asakichi.

RP: Okay. And...

KN: My mother was Toki.

RP: And where did they come from in Japan, do you know?

KN: Fukui, Fukui Japan.

RP: And where is that located in Japan, do you know?

KN: Up north, I think.

RP: Okay. Do you know much about your father's life in Japan?

KN: No.

RP: Do you know what his family...

KN: He came to America when he was a young man so he's been in America longer than ever. I don't think he remember his Japanese roots 'cause he was in his teenage when he came to America.

RP: Do you know how many siblings he had in Japan?

KN: No. I think he had about three or four brothers, and one sister, something, but I never met any of 'em.

RP: Did you ever travel back to the...

KN: No, I've never been to Japan.

RP: And your mother, Toki --

KN: Toki.

RP: -- also came from that area?

KN: Yeah, Japan. I think she came earlier and she was young. You know, Japanese arranged marriage and my father was already thirty-eight and she was barely eighteen when they got married in San Francisco. Yeah.

RP: So how did that work out?

KN: I don't know. Well you know, Japanese women don't do anything that the husband don't tell them to so she obeyed the husband I don't know if they were that happy. I don't know, but they never fought that I know of. But there's so much age difference. My father was over forty when he married my mother and she was barely eighteen.

RP: Yeah, that's, we've heard that a number of times.

KN: Yeah.

RP: Young women... and then, you know, the dad would...

KN: Yeah, they send for somebody in Japan and then get a young girl and then they get married in San Francisco. That was it.

RP: Yeah, do you know, do you know what date they got married?

KN: I have no idea. about 1910 or 1911 I think. 1910 probably.

RP: And where did they settle originally?

KN: San Francisco.

RP: Do you know what your father did for a living early on?

KN: Uh, he worked for a hakujin family but I don't know what he did. Gardener or butler or... that's about the only kind available for Japanese men when they come from Japan. They don't speak English.

RP: Did he ever, did he ever learn English?

KN: But just enough to get by where he worked for hakujin family so you know. But not that well.

RP: So tell me what you remember about your father. His personality, what was he like for you?

KN: Oh, he was very good to us. I mean, he took care of all of us. 'Cause there were seven of us. And he worked hard to provide for us and we, he sent us to Japanese school. I went to Japanese school eight years. Yeah. So he provided for us. He wasn't very rich but then, you know, he made sure that we were okay.

RP: How about your mother? What do you remember most about her?

KN: Oh, she came when she was young and then they let her marry my father right away so she was, she didn't hardly have any, any kind of life. Raising children one after another.

RP: And your, you talked about your siblings. And you, what were your impressions of your brother, Roy?

KN: Bossy. [Laughs] He bossed us around. 'Cause you know, boy in Japanese, they thought they were something great. He made me polish his shoes. Everything that he didn't want to do, he made me iron his shirts. Fussy about how I ironed his cuffs. "Oh, do it over." Bossy... but my oldest sister was very nice to us. She took care of us. She made sure that my brother didn't boss us too much but my older sister was just a year older than my brother, see. But they were real close but then she always took care of us, see that my brother don't boss us around too much.

RP: Then, then later on he joined the military didn't he?

KN: Yeah. Then he appreciated us, oh boy. When he decided to get married from Amache camp, he sent me a brand new suitcase and he never gave me anything in his life. He knew that I was leaving camp to go out and then he sent me a brand new suitcase. I think I still have it someplace in the house.

RP: That's something you want to hold on to.

KN: Yeah. 'Cause he never gave me anything.

RP: How was your relationship with your other sisters?

KN: Oh, we're close. We were close. They're six of us you know.

RP: And what, when you were growing up, what values did your parents try to instill in you? What...

KN: We worked hard. We always raised strawberry. Seven, eight acres. Even when we were kids we had to pick strawberries.

RP: So hard work...

KN: Oh yeah.

RP: Education?

KN: Yeah, and then after I graduated high school I went to work for State Department of Motor Vehicles. And I worked there 'til we got evacuated.

<End Segment 2> - Copyright &copy; 2011 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.