Densho Digital Archive
Manzanar National Historic Site Collection
Title: Bob Fuchigami Interview
Narrator: Bob Fuchigami
Interviewer: Richard Potashin
Location: Denver, Colorado
Date: May 14, 2008
Densho ID: denshovh-fbob-01-0002

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RP: Tell us your father's name.

BF: Heita. H-E-I-T-A.

RP: Heita, okay. Do you know a little bit about his early life in Japan? Was, did he come from a landowning family, farmers?

BF: Yeah, he was, he was... on the trip I was there, one of the uncles said this little valley that they had, they owned this little valley and so they had farmers working for them, I guess. He was one of, what, four boys? He was youngest of the four. In those days, the eldest inherited everything. So the other three boys had to fend for themselves if they wanted to, to become successful in any way. So two of the brothers came to the United States. They went to Hawaii first, then to the U.S. Then one of the, that two went to Brazil and my father stayed in the U.S. And then the third ended up in Korea. So... and then that one from Korea eventually went back to Japan after the war. The one in, in South America or Brazil stayed there. We don't know what happened. And my dad stayed in the U.S. He came in 1906 and then went back to Japan in about 1915 and married my mother and they came to the U.S. in 1917.

RP: Your father primarily came to the U.S. to better himself economically?

BF: That's right. Like a lot of others, he, he became a farmer. From what I understand, he was in Hawaii for a short period of time then came to the U.S. with his brother and I guess they had a restaurant in, in Sacramento. Then I guess did fairly well and when they started to change -- the California legislature was going to pass legislation on the Alien Land Law, essentially saying that the non-citizens couldn't own land in, in California -- he and a group of maybe eight others formed a corporation and purchased some land near Honcut.

RP: That's near Marysville?

BF: Yeah. That's, it's maybe ten, fifteen miles from Marysville. They, I guess they did fairly well. So he, it enabled him, anyway to, to go to Japan and to, and to get married.

RP: So that's his early life. Many Issei had to go through a number of stages and work jobs on the railroads or mining or farm labor jobs before they could establish themselves on their own farms and whether leasing or owning so, sounds like --

BF: I'm not sure my, my dad got into railroads and stuff like that. But the earlier pioneers did that. Excuse me. [Blows nose.]

RP: How much, how much schooling had he had in Japan? Had he at least gone through grammar school? Did he have a...

BF: He got through high school. And my mom went through a midwife school and so she was, she had some training.

RP: Tell us your mother's name, Bob.

BF: Tokuye. T-O-K-U-Y-E.

RP: So your father went back to marry her, and in those days, likely it was an arranged marriage?

BF: That I don't know. I don't know a heck of a lot about my, my father's, my father and mother. Unfortunately, I didn't learn Japanese, so... just one of those things.

RP: Did your mother or father eventually learn some English?

BF: Father did. As he became a farmer and started selling produce and interacting with the, like the grocers, and others who were, who were in that same kind of venture, he, he picked up some English. But, but Mom basically stayed at home and didn't, didn't learn English. So when it came time to become a citizen in 1950, what, about '54, he became a citizen and she did not.

<End Segment 2> - Copyright © 2008 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.