Densho Digital Archive - Susumu Iwasaki Interview (denshovh-isusumu

<Begin Segment 24>

RP: So you got married in Japan. Was it during this time that you were serving with the MIS or was it later?

SI: No, that was later when I was a civilian. But I still had to go to the army for permission to marry.

RP: You had to get permission?

SI: Yeah. Oh, yeah, in those days it was... they, in fact, I even wrote to my congressman to see if I can get kind of like, more or less like a permission to marry somebody here, in Japan. And so he wrote back and said no. He says wait, there'll be a blanket thing that will cover all of the personnel here in Japan so they can marry anybody, it'll be easier for them to marry, instead of trying to put in through a special request. So, which I did and it came through. Then it was pretty hard to marry somebody over there because being a civilian, too, I had through like their police check and all these other different kind of a background check for, for the wife, see. So, anyway...

RP: How did you meet your wife?

SI: Oh, she was working in an office and I just happened to be connected somehow with the office and then I start see if, I was dating her.

RP: Was she from Tokyo?

SI: Yeah.

RP: Had, had her family been affected by the bombing of Tokyo or...

SI: Well, no. Their house was there though. I mean, I can't imagine how they survived that bombing over there, but their house was there. So when I got married over there I built them an addition to the house. So, which was cheap in those days. So I lived there for... why I think, oh, before that I used to live someplace else. And the government all paid for it, you know, for my room and board, not room and board but room and maid service and the rent and they all, the government paid for all that. And soon after I left, I didn't change jobs. In fact, I did not change jobs but the office I was in, they moved to Saitama. And then that's when I moved into the other house. So, so I stayed there until I came back home.

RP: That was 1955?

SI: '55.

RP: And you came home with a wife and two children?

SI: One.

RP: One. And, what was...

SI: How did you know I was, came back in '55? Did I say that before? Oh, okay, whatever.

RP: You confessed to that.

SI: Okay, whatever. [Laughs.]

KP: Is that question twenty-seven?

SI: Right.

RP: Twenty-nine.

SI: Twenty-nine, yeah right.

RP: See, it's following you around.

SI: Oh, it sure did.

RP: That's a long story.

SI: Amazing.

RP: So, what was it like for your wife coming to America for the first time?

SI: How did I feel or how did she feel?

RP: How did was it for her, coming to America.

SI: She really didn't want to come, come here. And, but you know, the first kid was getting to be five years old and that's all she spoke was Japanese. And you know, I figured, so I asked her if she want to go to American school but she was, didn't want to go. And I didn't want to stay there the rest of my whatever time with the office. Then coming home without knowing any of the language here. So I made my decision which was, maybe it was wrong, I don't know. But anyway, it turned out pretty good, so...