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RP: And tell us a little bit about your father. His family in Japan? What, what do you know about his situation there?

HM: Well, we met them. Since the war we've gone twice to Tottori, but, so I don't know really know about the background before the war. But he did, he had another brother and a... that was it too? You know my mother never talked about it so I don't even know. But he came to United States. After he was educated in Japan he came to United States, you know, to study. And he went to a college in Denver and then he went to, back east. I think he went to, what's that college in New York?

Off Camera: Where?

HM: New York, he went to a college in New York. I don't even remember the name of the college.

Off Camera: I think it was Columbia.

HM: Huh?

Off Camera: Columbia.

HM: Columbia. Is that in New York? I think that's where he went. And also I had heard, my auntie had told me that he was invited to go to Oxford, England. But he decided to come back to the West Coast and then they got married. [Laughs] And I was born. But see, I was only five and a half months old when he died.

RP: So he was one of, one of a very few Isseis that came to the U.S. for college?

HM: Yes, yes. He also was very advanced. He played tennis. He golfed. You know, very...

RP: So would he have, would have...

HM: He was in a, a chemist. And, and before the war they wouldn't hire Japanese even if they had the college degrees, you know. So he worked for a Japanese company and what they did was they would send soil, the farmers would send soil samples to the, to him. And he would analyze it and make a fertilizer for it. And that's what he did.

RP: He did that for the Mutual Trading Company?

HM: Yes.

RP: Uh-huh, and so he had, had he attended college in Japan before he came to the United States?

HM: Yes, yes, uh-huh.

RP: So, it sounds like he came from a sort of a, a family with some means to support him.

HM: I think so.

RP: Was he the only member of his family from Japan to come to the United States?

HM: Well, to study, yes. I met a cousin way later, after the war, I met her. She, her husband retired so they came to the United States and that's when I met her. And we've seen her since many times 'cause when we go to Japan we try to get together.

RP: If you don't mind me asking, what were the circumstances of his death?

HM: Well, sort of embarrassing. He had a, he had surgery in New York for, I don't even know if I should say it over the...

Off Camera: Why not?

HM: Hemorrhoids. Then he came back and it was still bad so he had a surgery again. And he had a hard time recovering. You know, before the war, they don't have the techniques that we have now and stuff and... so he was only thirty-three when he died. My mother was a widow at twenty-six, or seven, something like that. She had a tough time. In those days they didn't have insurance or anything either, you know. I mean, he was so young. I mean, he didn't have insurance either. So...

RP: He also attended Modesto Junior College?

HM: Oh yeah, before they were... yeah, he went there. I forgot about that.

RP: And all that, all that education was directed towards becoming a chemist?

HM: I guess so. Yeah. He wanted to be a professional I guess.

<End Segment 2> - Copyright © 2010 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.