<Begin Segment 2>

AL: When he went to Bainbridge, do you know what his original occupation was? Did he go straight into farming?

SK: I think he worked for people on the farms and then he eventually went into strawberry farming and he, he bought a piece of property near the center of the island and went into strawberry farming.

AL: Do you know names of any of the farmers that he worked for before he...

SK: No, I don't.

AL: Okay. And you said he bought his own land. How did he do that? Did he buy it in the name of someone else, or did he buy it himself?

SK: He bought it through one of the neighbors. And this neighbor was very kind to a lot of the Japanese and he helped them get started. And then my dad... and then, there were times when he had a hard time making payments, and the gentleman said that's okay. And he just made sure my dad... and we eventually, my dad eventually paid it off, paid off the property.

AL: How many acres?

SK: We have five acres. And then after, in the early '40s, my dad had leased some land and he had about 20 to 40 acres of strawberries. And then, yeah, he had quite a bit of berries in cultivation and then when the war started he had the Filipino neighbors take over and of course things didn't go too well after that. [Laughs]

AL: Right. And we're gonna talk a little bit more about that. Before we get up to the war I wanted to ask you when and where and how he married your mother? Was she a "picture bride"?

SK: Apparently he was, the way I was told that his brother married my mother's sister. Okay, and so they had to make a trade and so my mother had to marry him. And that's the way, that's what I was told.

AL: Okay.

SK: And so, I mean, because he was the youngest son and so anyway, and he had come to the States and so they were sure that he needed a wife.

AL: Did they marry in the United States or in Japan?

SK: Yes, in United States. I think they got married in Tacoma.

AL: Okay. Did they know each other before they got engaged?

SK: They were neighbors, neighbors in the sense that, real close, I think close by, I think.

AL: Right. Do you know what year they married?

SK: My brother was... it's in the 1900s, I think. Gosh I can't remember when my brother was born. 'Cause he was born in... let's see, he was born in 1917. So okay, my mother came over in 1916, I think it was.

AL: Okay.

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