Densho Digital Archive - Joe Seto Interview (denshovh-sjoe

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EB: My name is Erin Brasfield, and it's Monday, July 10, 2006. And we are at the West Los Angeles United Methodist Church in West Los Angeles, California. And the interview is with Joe Seto, a former internee. We will be discussing his experiences as an internee during World War II. And this interview is being conducted for the oral history program at Manzanar National Historic Site in Independence, California, and will be archived in the site library. So, Mr. Seto, could you give me a little bit of your family history? So where was your family from in Japan?

JS: My father was from Gobo, Japan, and my mother from Tanabe, Japan, in, it would be equivalent to a county, Wakayama-ken.

EB: And who, what was their social economic position in those respective areas?

JS: My father was in the manufacturing business, and he was more or less the eldest son and succeeded his father. But it came out to be a disaster, so he consequently, he had visions of then immigrating to the United States. And he immigrated about age, I think it's about sixteen, completely on his own, much to the surprise of his family. And he arrived in... basically the state of Washington. And the kind of work that he did initially, he was a houseboy, domestic employee of the ambassador to France. And he cooked for the ambassador and did other household chores. And while at the job, he attended night school to learn English. And consequently was fluent in English, and this made it possible for him to advance in his efforts to make a respectable living. And I am aware that his place of employment was the Pacific Fruit Company, and later on, then he embarked on his own produce business.

EB: And what was your father's name?

JS: Toraichi, T-O-R-A-I-C-H-I.

EB: And tell me a little bit more about your mother, her name and how she came to the United States.

JS: At about, probably in his early twenties, my father went back to Japan. And as you know, most marriages were arranged, and got married. And my mother stayed behind for two years to learn how to be a housewife. So she learned how to cook and to do the cultural things such as flower arrangement, and I know she played the piano. And so after two years, then she came to the USA.

EB: And through what port?

JS: I think through Seattle, I'm not sure.

EB: Okay. And so after your mother came over, where did your parents live and what sort of work did they continue doing?

JS: Oh, as I mentioned, my father was already employed, so he continued the employment. I think for the majority of their lifetime, they lived at 1818 South L Street in Tacoma, Washington, and they were tenants or renters. And then about 1939, I think, they purchased that home they lived in, and they lived in that home until they passed away. My father passed away in 1968, and my mother about 1990. And then my oldest brother, who took care of my mother, lived in the family home until he passed away in the year 2000. And the year 2002, one of my older brothers, who was the executor of the estate, sold the family home.

EB: And was that in a certain neighborhood in Tacoma, Washington, and did that neighborhood have a name?

JS: In more recent years, it has been called the Hilltop because Tacoma's a hilly city, and it was on top of the hill, more or less. And during the past, perhaps, thirty years, it was an old neighborhood, so therefore it deteriorated considerably, and it turned into the "drug neighborhood." So it has a very bad reputation.

EB: Okay. You mentioned before, I remember, on the phone, that you had some brothers and some siblings. Can you tell me more about, like their names and when they were born?

JS: There were six boys. The oldest is Paul, born in about 1918; second is Hugh, about 1920; the third is Matthew, born in 1921; fourth is Tom, born in 1922; I was born in 1924; the youngest brother was born in 1926; and my sister was born in 1934. There were six boys and one girl.