<Begin Segment 3>

TI: Okay, let's talk about your mother. So what was her name?

YK: Kuni Araki.

TI: Kuni Araki, and where was she from?

YK: Toyama.

TI: And do you know what kind of work her family did in Japan?

YK: Same thing, rice farmer.

TI: And then how did your father and mother meet?

YK: I suppose the prearranged, 'cause he went back in '23, got married and brought her over here. '23 was the year when they stopped the immigration law. So he beat the law by a little bit, I guess. I don't know when he got married.

TI: Yeah, because I think it was 1924 that they stopped it completely, so they must have, yeah, they all kind of knew that something was going to happen. Now, how old was your mother, how was your mother's age compared to your father's age? Were they about the same age or was there an age difference?

YK: No, he was a lot older. He'd be eighteen years older.

TI: And so how old was your mother when she came over?

YK: When she came over? Twenty-two.

TI: Okay, so your father was about forty and she was about twenty-two.

YK: Yeah.

TI: Did you ever ask your mother why she married your father? Was it, you mentioned prearranged probably between families?

YK: I just assumed that.

TI: Did she ever talk about what she was expecting when she came to come to America?

YK: No.

TI: And so 1923, when they got married and they came to America, where did they go? Was that Montana at that time, or Utah?

YK: Yeah, at the beginning it was Montana.

TI: And do you know what she did when your dad was in...

YK: Housework, I think.

TI: Like housework just for the family, or did she help like housework, like a hired housework person?

YK: No, I think for the family.

TI: So earlier I asked about your father, what he was like, and you mentioned he was kind of quiet. How about your mother? What was she like?

YK: She talked more than my father did, but well, she was fairly opinionated, not very strong, but had ideas. She... well, I guess didn't have too much to say. That's about all I can tell you.

TI: Well, like if you were ever to do something kind of bad or mischievous, who would be the one to discipline you? Would it be your mother or your father?

YK: That would be my father.

TI: And what would happen usually if he had to discipline you?

YK: I don't remember. I don't remember him ever hitting me, but well, he sat down and talked to me a couple times, that's about it. My mother didn't have much to say. She'd lecture a lot, but nothing real severe.

TI: And when they would talk with you, was it in Japanese that they would talk with you?

YK: Yeah, I think so.

TI: When I think about the age difference, eighteen years' difference, how would you describe their relationship?

YK: I guess it was pretty compatible.

TI: But was the sense because your dad was older he was more in control? Or was it kind of even? How would you describe...

YK: I would say he was in a little bit more control, not that much more. Well, when I was a little kid, she went to learn English, went to a class up at Shattuck school, I remember that. We used to walk with her. She used to walk a couple miles just to go learn English. So she tried to learn, I guess it wasn't too bad. I don't know whether she got a certificate or not, but she got to understand English pretty good.

TI: And so do you remember going to the school with her when she took lessons?

YK: Yeah, I used to go to school with her, I guess to keep her company.

TI: And about how old were you when this happened?

YK: I must have been kindergarten, first, second grade, somewhere in there.

TI: And so this is in Portland when this happened.

<End Segment 3> - Copyright © 2013 Oregon Nikkei Endowment and Densho. All Rights Reserved.