<Begin Segment 4>

RP: Tell us a little bit about your mother. What was her maiden name?

GU: Ushio. U-S-H-I-O. I don't have any kind of background information on her.

RP: It was kind of traditional sometimes for Issei men to get a picture of a woman from Japan and...

LU: Oh, you're talking about a "picture bride"?

RP: "Picture bride." Is that...

GU: I think they went through that. I know she came on a boat to here.

RP: Later.

GU: Yeah. That's about all I know.

RP: What do you most remember about your mother?

GU: Well, to me, since I was the youngest, she really babied me. [Laughs]

RP: Somebody would say, use the word "spoiled"?

GU: That comes out real big. [Laughs]

RP: Was she, did she complement your father? You said your dad was very sort of stern and a disciplinarian. Was she a little softer with the kids?

GU: I would say so, yes.

RP: You might go to her for a little understanding, a soft shoulder?

GU: Yeah, mainly soft shoulder. Because there was very little conversation, because she spoke only Japanese -- well, mainly Father, too. And by the time I could remember, I was speaking mostly English. And there was very little that we could understand -- I mean, she didn't know any English. So I had a difficult time talking to her. But I guess that she always had a soft shoulder for me.

<End Segment 4> - Copyright © 2009 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.