<Begin Segment 5>

AS: However, we decided to leave, and we came back to Portland. And just before we settled down in Portland, we took a trip to Japan. When I was in college, I took a trip to Japan. The Buddhist group took a trip when the Tsukiji Hongwanji, Tsukiji Building was built in Tokyo. There was a world Buddhist convention there, and it was a big convention. The speeches were spoken in English, then translated to Japanese, Chinese, Laos, all different countries. It was a long, long dragged affair, and my cousin's husband was a Buddhist minister, Nisei minister. He spoke Japanese and English very, very fluently, so he was one of the men to be appointed to do the translation. Anyway, at that time, we had a free time to visit our relatives if we wanted to, so I went to my home, my father's and mother's country which was in Kumamoto, real southern part of Japan. And people in those days were so nice. They were so kind, and they talked to us and made us feel at home. My father's older brother I visited had, he had what, the silkworms in trays, and they were piled up in the living room because they had no other space. And when they found out I was going there to visit, he just threw everything out to welcome me. I felt so badly, that he would do that, but that's what he did. Then my cousin, my father's oldest brother's, one of the daughter, she brought me breakfast, American breakfast, bread and a scrambled egg and butter to toast the bread. I thought that was pretty nice of her; although, I enjoyed the Japanese breakfast. But the Japanese breakfast, was rice and a tiny bit of fish and a piece of that seaweed. They always served that, and umeboshi, red plum and hot tea. That was about it. So that was really a treat to have that American breakfast she brought me. Also, what I felt kind of amusing, all the young children would come and, "Oh, we have to go and see the lady from America." So they would all come and they looked in my suitcase and they looked at my hat and my American clothes and shoes. "Can I have your hat?" So I said, "Oh, yeah, you may have my hat." "Can I have your dress?" "Oh sure, take my dress." "May I have your shoes?" I had to part with all my clothes, but I had extra so that was okay. And I thought, my, do they like American things that much, you know. I really was quite impressed. And then we, when I took my first trip to Japan, it was on the Taiyo Maru ship, took two weeks to get from San Francisco to Japan. Then came back on the Taiyo Maru, Tatsuta Maru, took two weeks again to come back. Going out of San Francisco, it swayed like this, and all the dishes go to the left and all the dishes go to the right, just sways, and everybody got sick except me. I was not sick. It was amazing. And so, I had to take water. I have to help this person and that person. There were about six of us traveling together, and Reverend Terakawa, he is now deceased, but he took us all. He guided us to this Tsukiji Hongwanji, the first big building that they built for the Buddhist temple.

MR: When was that first trip that you took?

AS: 1932, I think it was.

<End Segment 5> - Copyright © 2005 Oregon Nikkei Endowment and Densho. All Rights Reserved.