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KN: Today is Sunday, January 12, 2014. We are in Portland, Oregon, my name is Katie Namba. I am a volunteer with the Oregon Nikkei Endowment. Today I will be interviewing Emiko Namba Kikkawa as part of the Minidoka Oral History Project. The videographer is Ian McCluskey, there are three observers in this room, and they are Betty Jean Harry, Marcia Stong and Eugene Stong. Thank you for taking the time to do this today.

EK: You're welcome.

KN: First of all, can you start by stating your full name?

EK: Emiko Namba.

KN: And where were you born?

EK: Portland, Oregon.

KN: And can you tell me about when you were born and more about specifically where? In a house or...

EK: Well, I understand it was, my parents were living in a hotel on Third and Davis or Couch, and I was born there, in Portland, Oregon.

KN: And do you know if the hotel was Japanese-owned, and do you remember the name of the hotel?

EK: It was... I don't exactly remember the name. The name changed to Teikoku Hotel, but I think it had another name before that when I was born. I'm not sure.

KN: And can you state your birth date for me?

EK: January 4, 1919. [Laughs]

KN: And is there any significance to your name?

EK: Well, Japanese name always has a meaning, and my name, e is for "grace," and mi is for "beauty," and ko stands for "girl." So you understand what my name stands for. They all named, they figure out what your first name, for you to fit into your... that's the way I understand.

KN: Wonderful. And what is your father's name?

EK: Etsuo Namba.

KN: And can you spell Etsuo, please?

EK: E-T-S-U-O.

KN: Thank you. And what kind of work did your father do?

EK: Well, I'm not quite sure, but I think he worked in a sawmill, and I think he was a cook for a while, I don't know exactly, but then he did, we did start a farm.

KN: Do you know about what time your father came to America?

EK: I think he came in 1916 or so, (...) they were married before he came, and he went back to Japan I think in 1917 and brought her back.

KN: What kind of, what was the family trade that your father grew up in in Japan? What did his parents do?

EK: Well, he was the second son, and you know how it is, the first son gets the property, and he either had to move out or go as a yoshi, you know what it is? Be adopted by another family and take their name, so he came to Portland.

KN: Can you tell me where he is from in Japan?

EK: He's from Okayama, Japan.

KN: And is there a specific part of Okayama that he was from?

EK: Yeah... I can't think of the name.

KN: That's okay. If it comes back to you, we can come back to that. Do you know anything about his family, how many siblings he had?

EK: He had one older brother that took over the family name.

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