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RP: Let's talk about your father. Can you give us his name?

AF: Kazuo, K-A-Z-U-O.

RP: Okay. And what do you know about his family background in Japan, first of all, where he came from and what his family did?

AF: Kazuo, he...

NN: They were --

AF: Kagoshima, huh?

NN: Yeah, Kagoshima.

KT: Kawanabe.

NN: Kawanabe-cho is the province that he came from. And they were, his father was, I think, in farming.

KT: He lost his mother.

NN: Yes, at six months, my father was orphaned and raised by his stepfather and stepsister. And at an early age, he apprenticed in a tailor shop and worked until he was eighteen. And left Japan at that time because one of his friends had encouraged him to come to South America where the opportunity was. And so he... I believe, it's only recently I discovered that looking through the legal papers that I got from the museum, that he left, he came to the United States at 1904. And I assume that he had gone directly to South America, but evidently he stayed here, he came here first at eighteen. And then I don't know how he made his way, but he went to Chile and stayed there with his friend. And he crossed the Andes and worked in Argentina in a munitions factory. And then he got another call from his friends from the United States urging him to join him here. And so he came to the United States, and he had mentioned that he had worked on a cotton farm in the San Isidro. Is it San Isidro? It's right above the border of...

AF: Mexico?

NN: Mexico. And then by the time he, he was about thirty-three, I guess he had felt that he should get married. And so he went back to Japan, married my mother, and my mother is from Kagoshima in the city. And so together, they met another countryman who also had a new bride, and he encouraged my father to join him on this particular ship back to the United States saying that the two women will have companionship and have some...

RP: Common ground?

NN: Yes, exactly. And so, so they did come back, and they landed in Seattle. And fortunately, they took that particular boat. My father had a later boat, but they took the earlier boat with his friend, and that was the last boat allowed into the United States. They had that...

RP: Immigration restriction?

NN: Yes, uh-huh, restriction on the Asian immigration into the United States. So we're American citizens, thank God. [Laughs] And then from there, I had asked him, "What made you come down south?" Because there were a lot of Japanese in that, Washington. And he says, "Well, for one thing, the weather is similar to Kagoshima," where they were raised. In addition, I guess because of his previous experience in working in this area, I think he felt that his opportunities were much, profitable here for his new family to be. And so they traveled down here with their friend, and they worked as seasonal farmers traveling from various cities depending on what the fruits or the vegetable was, or the flower were at that time. And gradually, he settled into the Venice/Culver area, and there was this housing, I guess they must have been barracks, several barracks where they were able to stay. And it was owned by a Mr. Culver, evidently. And from there, they did additional season work, and then finally, he found this German couple whose husband was infirm. And so the wife had asked if my father would help them out. And I guess it ultimately ended up that he was doing almost all the work, so he was asking if he might have a percentage of his, of the business. And I guess they declined, and so my father being somewhat resourceful, found this other property just around the corner. But unfortunately, because the legalities of them having ownership...

KT: They used...

NN: Yes, they put it into my sister's name.

KT: It was placed in my name.

RP: Your name?

AF: 'Cause she was born here, she was an American citizen.

RP: Citizen, right. Yeah, with the alien land law, and Isseis were not allowed own land, and then later on, not even lease land.

NN: Yes.

RP: So that was a way of getting around that. And how many acres did he purchase, do you know?

AF: Was it five acres?

NN: I don't think it was that much, was it?

AF: Oh, it wasn't that much?

NN: Well, it ultimately ended up to be about four. Wasn't it, Sam, about four acres, four-and-a-half acres or something like that? But initially, he just, by piecemeal, started off with a small lot, and piece of property, and gradually expanded, yes.

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