<Begin Segment 6>

KL: And what about your, let's move over to your mom's side of the family. What do you know about her parents, their names and their backgrounds?

HK: Yes. My grandfather on my mom's side was born on August 14, 1867, and then --

KL: What's his name?

HK: Kanematsu Igarashi. And he migrated from Niigata, Japan to Hawaii in... 1900, I think 1900. No, first he came from, to -- no, I'm sorry, he left Japan in 1886. That's right. He migrated from Niigata, Japan in 1886 to Hawaii, then he went to California in 1900. Or 1906, I guess, is when he came to Placer County.

KL: And your grandmother?

HK: No, it was 1900. (Yes), because Masao Omachi and Kanematsu Igarashi started the bible class in 1903. (Yes), so it was 1900 he came.

KL: Okay. And then your grandmother?

HK: My grandmother is Toshi Tashima, and she came from Japan... she was born in, 11/24/87, and in 1906 she came as a "picture bride" to marry Kanematsu Igarashi.

KL: Okay. Was she from Niigata too?

HK: You know, I'm not sure where, exactly where -- no, she was from Hokkaido. That's right. And someone sent a picture of her with her three sisters, or two sisters, and then of course the family custom was to try to have the oldest sister get married first, but then my grandfather picked her. He said he didn't want to marry the older one, he wanted to marry the one in the middle. [Laughs]

KL: Did he, do you know why he picked her, what appealed?

HK: Well, I guess maybe she looked most appealing to him. She was a very sweet, very sweet person, so maybe the older one looked like she might be too strong or something. So I guess you can tell people by their pictures. I don't know.

KL: Yeah. Is there anything else that's written down that you wanted to share about them? And then we'll just talk about them a little bit more, I'll just ask you some questions.

HK: Well, yes, my grandfather, Kanematsu Igarashi, came from a family that manufactured the Japanese koji, miso, tofu. In fact, we even went to visit them about six years ago, my cousin that's still doing the business. They had that family business for over fifteen generations. But my grandfather was a younger brother, so the oldest brother, of course, carried on the family business, but my grandfather learned all the tricks of the trade and then he came to California and then he started a Japanese store in Loomis. He had the first Japanese store in Loomis, and he made all those Japanese foods that were very hard to acquire at that time. Even tofu was very hard. He made the tofu, and natto is the fermented beans, and even sake and all the Japanese foods that are very, was very scarce at that time. And so he was able to start a store.

KL: Do you know the store's name?

HK: There, I had seen a picture of it, but I think it was called Igarashi.

KL: Probably that's what people called it, even if that's, wasn't on the sign.

HK: Uh-huh. And then he, one time one of his friends came to visit him from Salt Lake City or something and watched him make miso. You know what miso is? (Yes), and then he stole his recipe and he was producing miso in Salt Lake City but his name Kanematsu on it. But it was his recipe.

KL: That's amazing, fifteen generations of that family business.

HK: Yes, because there are secrets to that trade, to get the right taste. 'Cause miso, well, if you're familiar with miso, you notice that different restaurants, different taste, so it depends on the miso.

KL: Yeah.

HK: But that's where the flavor comes from.

KL: What was he doing in Hawaii?

HK: He was working in the pineapple fields for just a short time.

KL: Did your grandfathers know each other before they came to Placer County?

HK: I don't think so. I'm not sure. I don't think so, because I think when they moved to... no, because my father's father came in 1893.

KL: To California, yeah, to Loomis.

HK: Yeah, and then my mother's father came in...

KL: 1900 or so, you said.

HK: (Yes), in 1900. So Masao Omachi was in Loomis area first, so I don't think they met, saw each other, knew each other in Hawaii.

KL: Was Masao an only child? Do you know?

HK: Masao? I don't know. I didn't, we didn't get that information.

KL: Yeah, that's okay. But Kanematsu was a younger child.

HK: Yes, 'cause he had two older brothers, and I think he came from a family of five, at least five or six sons. And then, in fact, they had so many sons that, at that time if you have extra sons, then you took your wife's name if they didn't have sons in their family, so that's what his brother did. His brother married a Mayeda, so he acquired the name of Mayeda, but his younger brother was an Igarashi. So he had several siblings, I'm not sure exactly how many. I have to...

KL: That's okay.

HK: I have a book on (the) Igarashi (...) side of the family, and I couldn't find it, for this.

KL: What about Toshi's, the family that she grew up in? Do you know anything about her parents, or if she had siblings?

HK: Well, she did have at least two siblings because --

KL: Oh, the picture.

HK: They said that, I think she had two siblings, so that's why she sent her picture, or her parents sent her picture and then he, my grandfather chose her.

KL: Do you know why her parents wanted her to be a "picture bride," or what she thought of it?

HK: Well, I think at that time, California was considered as a land of golden opportunity, and he sent a dashing picture of (himself). It looked like he was doing quite well, so... [laughs] And I think Hokkaido is the colder part of Japan, and I think they do farming there, but then it's very hard to make a living there. So I think probably his family, her family probably was struggling to make a living there, so they were happy if their daughter married a rich man in California.

KL: Which, of course they all were, right, all the men? [Laughs]

HK: Well, particularly my grandfather, Kanematsu, was considered as one of the wealthiest in that area, because he (owned) the store and then he was also raising chickens. And so then he was the first one to buy a Model T Ford, and also he was the first one to have electricity. So they had a vacuum cleaner and electrical appliances.

KL: When did they get electricity?

HK: I think early, I think probably early nineteen... I don't know, when did the Model T Ford come out?

KL: I don't know. It was early 'teens, I think. It's a been long time since I knew that.

HK: 1912 or something like that.

KL: That's what I was going to guess, '13 or something.

HK: Yeah, about 1912 or...

KL: And it was around that same time that they got electricity. Wow, that's really early. Or it seems to me.

HK: Yes, it was early.

<End Segment 6> - Copyright © 2014 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.