<Begin Segment 5>

AC: So were there other strawberry farmers in Hillsboro and Banks?

NH: Oh, yes, most of them were strawberry growers. We did some truck farming along the side, too, while we lived there, too, but the main crop is strawberries. It seemed like the Japanese at that time, they had the experience of raising strawberries and knew what they were doing, so I think that's why they continued with that, too.

AC: So your husband was also a farmer. Was he a farmer in the nearby area?

NH: Excuse me?

AC: Your husband, the person who became your husband, he was also nearby, he was also a farmer?

NH: Yes, but in a different type of farming in eastern Oregon here. It was like raising onions and potatoes and such. So his parents were in that type of farming so he can start off in his own like that, too.

AC: How did you meet?

NH: We met at a JACL convention in Portland. Let's see, I can't recall what year that was, but I was still in high school. So then after I met him, it was eight years later that I married him, So it was just seeing him, he lived in eastern Oregon, I lived over there, and it was just seeing him, oh, through the years, just a few times through the years, you know. But I made the right choice. I vowed that I would never marry a farmer because I was raised on a farm and knew how much work it was. And yet that's what happened, I did marry a farmer. [Laughs]

AC: That must have been quite a romance. Did you keep in contact with letters at all?

NH: Yes, yes, we did. And then he'd make trips over there to date me and such, you know. So the dates were few and far between. [Laughs] So that's why it took eight years.

AC: What did he study at BYU?

NH: Oh, I think it was business. I really don't recall for sure, but I think he was in business that he was majoring in BYU.

AC: But he didn't finish. Why?

NH: No, he didn't. Well, I think it was finances more than anything. 'Cause he had two brothers that were going to Oregon State, but he chose BYU, and I think he more or less had to work along with school. So I really don't know in detail what happened.

AC: So when, about when were you dating him, when he was in Ontario and you were in Banks?

NH: Well, it first started when I first met him, I guess. I met him at this convention, and we dated then. And we were both attending these JACL conventions that they had once a year, so we'd date then. Then, of course, he made trips over there in between, you know. So, like I say, they were far between.

AC: What year was about this when he was courting you?

NH: Oh, let's see. In about '38, I think.

AC: How long would it take him to drive from Ontario, Oregon, to Banks?

NH: It was about an eight-hour drive in. Of course, now it could be made in six, seven hours, but it was about an eight-hour drive then.

AC: And so when did you get married?

NH: In February the 16th of 1941. So then the war broke out that December. That's the reason why I was already living in this area where it was safe to move to. But my parents weren't allowed to move until they had the grant to move, which was in March of '42.

<End Segment 5> - Copyright © 2004 Oregon Nikkei Endowment and Densho. All Rights Reserved.