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RP: This is an oral history for the Manzanar National Historic Site. This morning we're talking with Fumi Hayashi, and Fumi lives at 778 Melba Street in Encinitas, California. The date of our interview is May 14, 2009. Our videographer is Kirk Peterson and the interviewer Richard Potashin, and we'll be talking with Fumi about her experiences as a internee at the Manzanar War Relocation Center and then some of her experiences relocating to Cleveland and returning here, working in the flower industry for a number of years. Our interview will be archived in the Park's library. Fumi, do I have permission to go ahead and record our interview?
FH: Okay.
RP: Thank you very much. And can I refer to you as Fumi?
FH: Sure, of course. Only way. [Laughs]
RP: Tell us your birth date and where you were born.
FH: I was born January 24, 1925.
RP: And where?
FH: Los Angeles, California. I think the hospital's there. The White...
RP: White Memorial Hospital?
FH: White Memorial Hospital, if I'm not mistaken. Is it still there?
RP: I'm not sure.
FH: Oh, I don't know. I'm not sure.
RP: I know a lot of Japanese families, mothers had kids there. What was your given name at birth, Fumi?
FH: Fumiko Nemoto. My last name is Nemoto.
RP: Your maiden name.
FH: Uh-huh.
RP: N-E-M-O-T-O?
FH: Right.
RP: And do you know what your first Japanese name means? Fumiko?
FH: I'd rather not tell you. [Laughs] It's, it, like all children, I mean, parents have desires for their kids, and that's what it is.
RP: How about your last name, Nemoto?
FH: I really don't know. Nemoto is like the root of a tree or so. I think that's what it is, the foundation of a tree. I mean, it must be like Indian, they got, they have a reason for whatever their name is, however they picked it or however it came down the line.
RP: Did you ever take a, an American name?
FH: No.
RP: 'Cause you shortened your first name to Fumi.
FH: Well, yeah, right. Makes it easier.
<End Segment 1> - Copyright © 2009 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.