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KP: Today is October 19, 2008. We are at 6929 Franklin Boulevard in Sacramento at the Japanese United Methodist Church. We're doing an interview of Jim Tanaka for the oral history program at Manzanar. The interviewer, myself, I'm Kirk Peterson, and with me today on camera is Richard Potashin. And this interview will be stored at Manzanar, or on file at the Manzanar library. And Jim, do I have your permission to continue with our interview?

TT: Yeah, you sure have.

KP: Thank you for that. So to get started, let's start with you. When and where were you born?

TT: Sacramento, 5th and O Streets, Sacramento, California.

KP: What year?

TT: 1926. I'm sorry, 1926.

KP: And what was your name at birth? Your name, what name were you given at birth?

TT: Oh, Taketora Tanaka. The "Jim" I got when I started going to school.

KP: Do you know what your name, your Japanese name meant?

TT: Yeah. See, "Take" means "bamboo." "Tora" is "tiger." So what happened is, what the meaning is -- at least that's what I was told -- is, see, the bamboo (is strong). And tiger (because I was born in 1926 which is the year of the tiger). But I think my... one of my relatives gave me that. That's all I remember.

KP: And you said you don't like the name?

TT: No, not really. Especially the first name. Because they had a hard time pronouncing it. You go to school, anywhere, they can't pronounce it. So I've been called all kinds of names. [Laughs]

KP: So Jim's better.

TT: I like Jim better.

KP: What do you know about where your father came from?

TT: He came (to Sacramento) from, (...) Hilo, Hawaii, born in Hilo, Hawaii (in 1899).

KP: So he was Nisei.

TT: Yeah. I'm Sansei, really, because my father was a Nisei. My mother was an Issei from Japan. She was from Hiroshima (...).

KP: What year was your mother born?

TT: (1902). She was thirty-three years old when she died, and she died in 1935. See, my father was born 1899 in Hilo.

KP: Do you know anything about your father's family, where your grandfather came from?

TT: He's a, they called him "Kanaka boy," he's a Hawaiian boy. So he went to the -- I don't know how my grandmother and he got together, but anyway, my grandmother came from Japan. That's all he told me, he's a Hawaiian boy, that's all I was told. So I don't know when he went to Japan to go look for a bride or come back, but I don't know how that worked.

KP: So what brought your father to the mainland?

TT: As far as I know, (...) my grandfather (and) grandmother (came for a) better life. Because I don't know if you know the history of the immigrants from Japan going to Hawaii (to) work. They were treated almost like slaves, when they worked in the sugar cane and all that. But for a better life, they came over.

KP: And where did your... so when did your father come to the mainland?

TT: That's all I know, that came here late 1900s, that's all I know. I think it must be about early 1901, 1902, somewhere in there.

KP: And where they come to?

TT: That I don't know. That's all I know. I think they came through... I think they came to San Francisco, Angel Island, I think. I'm pretty sure it was Angel Island, that was an entry point.

KP: What was your... so let's see. Your father would have been about twenty then, roughly?

TT: Gee, I really don't... that's all I know. That's all I know, he was born in 1899, that's all I know. [Laughs] I never did figure that out.

KP: So what did your grandfather do when he came to the mainland?

TT: He was a typical farmer.

KP: And he farmed in the Sacramento area?

TT: Most of it, yeah, Sacramento. It's like over there by that... if you're familiar with the 5th and Broadway (near) Southside Park. Somebody, my father used to tell me, he says they used to have (horse stables at) Chavez Park (...). That Southside Park is what's left of the city dump. I go pretty far back. They used to farm over there (...) by Southside Park, when they first came here.

KP: So how did your father meet your mother?

TT: I think one of those setups, the "picture bride" thing. Because that's all I know, is he went to Japan and stayed for about six months, they got married and they came back over to Sacramento. That's all I know.

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