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MH: This is an interview with Edward Harumi Fujii, a Nisei man, eighty years old, in his home in Gresham, Oregon. The interviewer is Masako Hinatsu with the oral history project 2003 of the Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center. Ed, where were you born and the date that you were born?

EF: I was born right here in Gresham. The doctor was a Gresham doctor, so that's who brought us all in the world practically.

MH: And what year was that?

EF: 1923.

MH: Name your mother and father?

EF: My mother's name was Yoshino Yamakado and my father's name was Bukiichi Fujii.

MH: What did your father do?

EF: He was a farmer.

MH: Can you tell me a little bit about his life here in the United States?

EF: Yeah. My father was a very, for a Nisei, he was a very... he found his way around. I don't know, he spoke English, but, and he seemed like he knew enough of it to get by, so he was well-known in this area, Gresham, Sandy, and the East because he worked in the woods, like cutting logs and those kind of things, and that's how he survived and farmed here.

MH: Where is "here"?

EF: In Troutdale, and was very good at it. And to survive back in those days, you had to be very flexible in the farming. We had to raise cows, horses, pigs, chickens, and all those different animals too.

MH: Did you raise them to sell?

EF: No. We did not raise them to sell, but we had them around.

MH: For food?

EF: For food, eventually.

MH: How about your mother, what did she do?

EF: She was, my mother was just a housewife. She hardly spoke English, but she got around well for a small lady and was a big help as far as I'm concerned. She never complained about the hard times or any of that. She did a very good job as a mother.

MH: How many brothers and sisters did you have? Can you name them also?

EF: My oldest sister's name was Akiye and then came my brother Kaz, my sister Kimi, then myself, my brother Jack, my brother Jim, my brother Tom, and my youngest brother Tadato.

MH: What do you remember of your family life with your siblings and your mom and dad?

EF: Well, we all lived in the same house, and I thought we seemed like we survived well with what we had which wasn't very much, but we survived. We didn't live lavishly by no means, but got the basic foods that people of our ancestry survived on. And as far as I'm concerned, it seemed like a very comfortable atmosphere.

<End Segment 1> - Copyright © 2003 Oregon Nikkei Endowment and Densho. All Rights Reserved.