<Begin Segment 4>

KL: You said you had a couple brothers. Would you tell us their names in order?

HF: Older one is George, and the younger one is Kazuo, K-A-Z-U-O. And then later on, after camp, he gave himself an English name, he gave himself Dave.

KL: So George was 1924 baby and Kazuo was 1927?

HF: Yes, uh-huh.

KL: Okay. When you were born, what was your name?

HF: Well, on the birth certificate it just says Hana, H-A-N-A.

KL: Okay. In the government records, there's a different first name, that's why I was curious.

HF: Hanako.

KL: Hanako? Okay. Do you have any idea why your parents chose that name for you?

HF: No. Hana means "flower," probably because they worked on the flower, with the flowers. They never said. We just assumed, well, that's my name, so we didn't question. Those days we didn't question too many things.

KL: How did they feel about their jobs, do you think?

HF: They worked hard; they didn't complain. They didn't complain, they just worked.

KL: Do you think it was a job they chose because it was available, or do you think it was something they got satisfaction from?

HF: Probably because it was available, I would think. That's what happened to most people, whatever was available, they took. My uncle, my father's brother, he lived in, they lived in West Los Angeles, so that was a little town. It's a big town now. So she was a schoolteacher, Japanese schoolteacher.

KL: His wife?

HF: The wife, uh-huh. And he worked as a gardener for these rich Caucasians.

KL: What were their names?

HF: Mother's name was Fuki, F-U-K-I, and the father's name was Suematsu, S-U-E-M-A-T-S-U, which means the last.

KL: I guess that's final when you get named that. [Laughs]

HF: And they only had one daughter.

KL: What was her name?

HF: Her name was Meriko, M-E-R-I-K-O. And she passed away last year.

KL: Did you see very much of that family when you were growing up?

HF: We didn't see too much because they lived quite a few miles away. But then every once in a while they'd come over, we'd go over for holidays.

KL: What holidays were big in your childhood or in your teenage years?

HF: Probably Thanksgiving.

KL: How did you celebrate?

HF: By eating. [Laughs]

KL: What were your favorites?

HF: Well, later on it was turkey, I don't know before that what we ate, but probably Japanese food, because all my mother cooked, was Japanese food.

KL: Where would you celebrate Thanksgiving?

HF: Now?

KL: No, then, when you were growing up. Would you go to West L.A.?

HF: Yes, we went to West L.A.

<End Segment 4> - Copyright © 2013 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.