<Begin Segment 2>

KL: So moving to your mom, what was her name?

MS: Her name is actually, formal name was Gin. Gin means silver, and I don't know where she picked up the name Yaeko later, but she has always been referred to mostly by her, by the name Yaeko.

KL: Would you spell Gin and Yaeko?

MS: Sure. Y-A-E-K-O.

KL: And Gin?

MS: Gin is G-I-N.

KL: You said it means "silver"?

MS: Uh-huh.

KL: Was that important to her?

MS: Kin is gold, right, and gin is silver.

KL: Do you know why she had that name?

MS: No, I don't.

KL: What was her story? Where was she from?

MS: She was also from the Shizuoka Prefecture in the city of Shimizu, as far as I know.

KL: Do you know what life was like in Shimizu for her or her parents' professions?

MS: No. I think both my father's family and my mother's family were farmers, but I'm not too sure about that.

KL: What do you know about her decision to immigrate, or how they met and decided to marry, or married and then met?

MS: Of course, theirs was a typical Japanese marriage that was arranged by a, what was the term?

KL: I should know it, there's a word...

MS: A go-between.

KL: Baishakunin?

MS: Baishakunin, correct.

KL: Do you know who that person was?

MS: No, I don't.

KL: Or why he matched them or she matched them?

MS: No, but I think there was some of a relationship between my father's family and my mother's family before, because my father's older sister was, became my mother's stepmother when her real mother, I think, passed away during or after the birth of my mother's younger sister. It was sort of complicated, but there was a relationship there, and I'm sure that because of that, the arrangement was made between my father and my mother.

KL: Do you know how old your mother was when her mother died?

MS: No, no I don't.

KL: Did she talk ever about the effect that had on her life?

MS: No, I don't. I wish I had, to understand, you know, what happened later to them.

KL: So do you think your parents knew each other before they married, or what can you tell us about their marriage?

MS: I have no idea. I have no idea.

KL: You think they were married in Japan, is that right?

MS: Pardon me?

KL: Do you know where they were married, was it Japan or the U.S.?

MS: It wasn't in the U.S., I'm pretty sure they got married in Japan. I don't know whether, well, I'm quite confident to say that it had to be in Shizuoka Prefecture, and possibly in Shimizu city.

KL: Do you think it was before your father came to the United States?

MS: No, after his first, or after he came, my father went back to get married and then came back, I don't know whether they came back together or not, or my father came and then my mother came later to this country.

KL: And we were talking before, the three of us, about a possible connection to Angel Island of your mother's? Do you know where they came in when they came back or what do you know about that trip?

MS: Not for sure, but I think all indication is that she ended up in Angel Island.

KL: And Beth was saying, I know, that she may have stayed there for some time, she may have been ill or stayed at the island, so we'll have to look that up and see what we find.

MS: Okay, yeah.

<End Segment 2> - Copyright © 2013 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.