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AL: Today is the 30th of January, 2013. This is Alisa Lynch with Manzanar National Historic Site, Ranger Kristen Luetkemeier and I are in the home of Mas and Shirley Nagatomi Okabe in San Jose, California. We're doing this interview as part of our oral history project at Manzanar, to be archived in the site library, also to be used for public education and history at Manzanar. So do we have your permission, Shirley, to record the interview?

SO: Yes, uh-huh.

AL: Okay. So I'd like to start by asking your full name and when you were born.

SO: Shirley Shizuko Okabe, formerly Nagatomi, and I was born in San Francisco on February 7, 1937.

AL: What are your parents' names?

SO: Sumi and Shinjo.

AL: And your father... well, I know both your parents were Issei. What can you tell me about your father's family history in Japan?

SO: He was born into a temple family in Yamaguchi-ken, Japan, but he was the second son, and his older brother was to inherit the temple. So he went to the university and got his bachelor's, then he wanted to go on and get his master's, but his parents said they couldn't afford to send him. So at this point, he met... well, he didn't meet my mother, they were set up, and her father needed a boy in the family because he had two daughters. So he married my mother with the understanding that my grandfather would send him to the university to get his master's, so that's how they got married.

AL: And your father, do you know what his parents' names were?

SO: Yeah, I wrote it down. His father's name was Araragi, A-R-A-R-A-G-I, Sonen, and his mother's name was Nakamura Fuji.

AL: Fuji's the first name, so the last name is Araragi?

SO: Yeah, the last name would be Araragi, so I was kind of glad my father was adopted by the Nagatomi family. [Laughs]

AL: It's interesting because your father is so well-known, and the Nagatomi name is so well-known, it's ironic that that's not the name he was born with.

SO: Right, correct.

AL: That's very interesting. So in Japan, do you know how many generations back your family was...

SO: Temple families?

AL: ...temple families?

SO: No, I don't. I don't.

AL: And so the sect in Japan that your father was with, was that also Jodo Shinshu?

SO: Yeah, Jodo Shinshu.

AL: Do you know what Jodo Shinshu translates as, or what that sect is known for?

SO: Not really, not really.

AL: So would that be common in Japanese culture, that the oldest son would take over the temple?

SO: Correct.

AL: So your mother's family, her father was a minister?

SO: Yes. He was blessed with two girls. [Laughs]

AL: What can you tell me about your mother's life in Japan?

SO: She went through high school and her education stopped there. And I don't think she worked outside the home at all.

AL: What was her... when was she born?

SO: She was born in 1901, so they were the same age. In fact, she was a little older than him by twenty-one days.

AL: And so her family... I mean, her family adopted your father. Do you know what was involved in adopting a son?

SO: I think it's just all paperwork.

AL: Do you think that was a difficult thing for your father?

SO: No, because he wanted to go to the university for a couple of more years, and I guess... you know, Mother told me they only met once before they got married. So I'm not exactly sure how they felt about each other.

AL: That's what I was gonna ask, because did you feel it was a good match?

SO: It was, it was.

AL: So I know that you have an older brother who was born in Japan. Could you tell me his name and when and where he was born?

SO: Masatoshi Nagatomi, and he was born in Japan in 1927, and he was raised mainly by my grandparents because they didn't want to interrupt his education when my parents came, and I think they thought they would not be here as long as they stayed, they thought they would go back in a few years. But as it turned out, he didn't come to America until his finished the university in Japan.

AL: What year were your parents married?

SO: I think they were married... I have no record, but the birth of my brother, and I think it was about like 1925. I'm just guessing, though.

AL: And you said they were in Yamaguchi?

SO: Yamaguchi-ken, Japan.

AL: Do you know what the name of the village was?

SO: Yeah, Koroi-mura.

AL: How would you spell that?

SO: K-O-R-O-I.

AL: Koroi?

SO: K-U-R-O-I. Kuroi. It could translate as "black," kuroi is black.

AL: What part of Japan is that in?

SO: Yamaguchi-ken, it's near... it's fairly close, I guess Kyoto... yeah.

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