<Begin Segment 2>

RP: And what did your father do early on in this country? Did he, was he farming originally?

TK: Well, his uncle was here before him, so I guess his uncle got him started as a farmer. He was raising grapes, I think.

RP: In this particular area, the Sacramento area?

TK: Yeah, Florin.

RP: In Florin. And that uncle's name, last name or first name was Kuzo?

TK: Kuzo, K-U-Z-O, Tsukamoto. T-S-U-K-A-M-O-T-O. Tsukamoto.

RP: And Florin was essentially a strawberry and grape producing area?

TK: Mostly grapes at first, I think, then strawberry came later. And that's all most of 'em raised. Yeah, it got to a point where Florin was the strawberry capital of the world, and all these Japanese were raising strawberries. Not too many Caucasians liked that bending over to pick strawberry.

RP: What do you recall about your father as a person, as a father?

TK: Well, he didn't talk much, but he was kind of scary as far as I was concerned. [Laughs]

RP: In what way?

TK: I mean the way he looked. Yeah, he really looked scary. But he was, he didn't raise his hand or anything, you know. Just look in, just when he looked at you, you said, "Okay." So he was, he was just really, whatever he did, whatever he said.

RP: Your mom, her name?

TK: Oh, what was this?

RP: Your mom's name?

TK: Masa, M-A-S-A, Ishimoto, I-S-H-I-M-O-T-O.

RP: What do you know about her background in Japan?

TK: Gee, as far as the background, I know she was the daughter of some Buddhist priest. That much I know a little bit. But I don't know what religion, some kind of Buddhist sect. And we went for a visit one time. So she had sisters that came to the United States, and I think the brother or someone went to South America, Sao Palo, I think.

RP: And the sisters stayed in the United States?

TK: Yeah. She had one sister in Seattle, one sister in Fresno, and I think another sister in Hawaii. She was the oldest.

RP: Your mom was?

TK: Yeah, my mom was the oldest. That's as far as I know. I met a few of my cousins. I never did meet the ones in Hawaii, but I met the ones in South America. And I always see my cousins in Fresno and Seattle.

RP: So you were scattered around a bit?

TK: Yeah.

RP: Did either of your, did either your mother or your father have sort of a creative side to them?

TK: Not really.

RP: Music, art?

TK: They just went to work and that's it.

RP: Work?

TK: Yeah.

RP: Did your mom ever share with you some of her early life in America? You said she possibly was a "picture bride"?

TK: Well, she didn't, all she did was she came and married my dad and helped him with the farm, that's about it.

RP: So do you have any early memories of life on the farm?

TK: Yeah. Well, since I was the youngest and I was the only son, I should have been helping more. But I was kind of young, so my sisters were helping him more. Picking grapes and strawberries and all that stuff. By the time I grew up and the war started, that was it.

RP: So you didn't spend much time working on the farm.

TK: No, not too much. Couple of years, about it, that's it.

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