<Begin Segment 2>

RP: What was your Japanese name?

LY: Oh, my Japanese name is Sakiko Asahara.

RP: And do, do you...

LY: I mean, Lois supposed to be a middle name.

RP: Right. Do you know what your Japanese name means?

LY: Means? Flower blossoms, bloom, child of flower blossom. And my father named all of the Japanese names.

RP: And why don't you share with us your siblings.

LY: Oh, all right.

RP: Starting at, with the oldest first.

LY: Oldest. My oldest sister is Tomoko Carol Asahara. And then my oldest brother is Seiichi David Asahara. And third one is Naoya Francis Asahara, and fourth one is Kazuyoshi Paul Asahara. And (fifth) one is Junko Joan Asahara. And I'm the next to the youngest, Sakiko Lois Asahara. And then we did have a little brother. His name was Ken Daniel Asahara, but unfortunately he passed away when he was seven month old, take back, is ten month old, in Japan.

RP: In Japan?

LY: Uh-huh, because of malnutrition.

RP: Did the Seno side of your family share any stories about, about the farm in Florin and what that was like?

LY: Yes. I didn't really ask grandparents but my mom always said it was very, very hard life, working in the field, trying to raise the strawberries and grapes. And then my mother was the oldest of seven children and she has to be responsible for many things. And because her brother was the fourth one... no, fifth one. So she had big responsibilities and having many sisters and only one brother.

RP: So she kind of had to look over, look after the rest of the kids?

LY: Right.

RP: Uh-huh. As well as maybe helping out her mother and...

LY: She said until eleven years old it was a very nice life 'cause she didn't know any hardship. But after that she sees and hear it so she felt very responsible to helping in the farm.

RP: Uh-huh.

LY: And then she said when she was eleven years old she has to learn how to drive and drive the tractor.

RP: So she worked out in the fields...

LY: Right, so she said soon as everyone, the children came home they had to go out to the field and help with the strawberries and grapes.

RP: Anything else that...

LY: To add?

RP: That she shared with you?

LY: Oh, about the farming?

RP: Yeah. How about her background of the family, the religious background of the family? What was that?

LY: I didn't quite get it.

RP: What was the, what were their religious backgrounds?

LY: Oh, when she was twelve years old she said she became Christian. And then when she was growing up she said the church had a revival and very, I guess, I don't know how to say it, but anyway they had a revival and then Reverend Baba was leading the group and visited, so one year they had, thirty-seven people received the Christ. Anyway, when she was eleven years old, I think my grandfather, Tokumatsu Seno, became Christian. So when she was growing up my mother told us that her neighbors gave her a ride, Yamadas, Sakakiharas. They were older and they were the boys. They can't drive and so they were, and that's how she was able to go to church.

RP: Did, did her parents ever send any of the kids back to Japan?

LY: You mean my parents?

RP: Your, your grandparents.

LY: Oh, no. She didn't send anybody back to Japan.

RP: They didn't send anybody. Okay.

LY: 'Cause they were both here and...

RP: Uh-huh. Did she --

LY: And I'm sure, because the condition in Japan was not that well those days.

<End Segment 2> - Copyright © 2009 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.