Densho Digital Archive
Oregon Nikkei Endowment Collection
Title: Taylor Tomita Interview
Narrator: Taylor Tomita
Interviewer: Linda Tamura
Location: Hood River, Oregon
Date: April 18, 2014
Densho ID: denshovh-ttaylor-01-0002

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LT: So what did your father's family do in Fukushima?

TT: I really didn't know, but I think he told me that he raised silkworm or something like that one time, but that's about all I know about what he did over there.

LT: Okay. So your father didn't talk a lot about his early life?

TT: No.

LT: Do you know how your father decided to come to America?

TT: I really don't know. I guess he was one of the older sons, so those days they, quite a few used to come. I guess they say America was a good place to make money, and so they, lot of them came over. My dad, his dad came with him the first time, and then I don't know how long he stayed, but then he went back to Japan and my dad just stayed. And that's all I remember.

LT: You said your father was the eldest. Do you know how many brothers and sisters he had?

TT: No, I really don't know. I never heard about it, and I never asked about it, how many brother and sister he had. All I know is that one brother is my uncle, he lives in Portland, I mean, he did live in Portland. He's dead now. So I don't know if they came together or what, but then he was in Portland.

LT: Yes, well, there were many elder sons like your father who came to the United States to earn money.

TT: Yeah.

LT: Okay. When your father came to America, he first lived in Portland. Do you have information about what he did in Portland?

TT: He told me he was a houseboy or something, some family, I think it was the Meier family or something, of the Meier & Frank's. He was the houseboy there. Must have stayed there about, I don't know how long, but then a year or so, and then they came to Hood River.

LT: Yes, and that was significant because the Meier family, who were the founders of the Meier & Frank department store, and Julius Meier became Oregon's governor in the early 1930s, so, yes. Yes, your father worked as a houseboy in Portland, and then eventually decided to come to Hood River. Do you know why?

TT: I think he was influenced by Mr. Yasui. He knew Mr. Yasui pretty good, I guess, so he told my dad he should come to Hood River, so he came to Hood River and started farming.

LT: Okay, and who was Mr. Yasui?

TT: Hmm?

LT: Who was Mr. Yasui?

TT: Well, he owned a store in Hood River, and he was a pretty well-known guy. And then I think he helped a lot of Japanese guys buy land. I think he put up the money and they, then they couldn't afford it, so he had quite a bit of money, I guess. And he used to And he used to buy land and go in partnership with some of them, not too many, but he kind of worked with a real estate guy. So that way he was able to tell what land was for sale and stuff, and tell them what was for sale, and then he'd buy it, I mean, they'd buy it. Well, some of the... he went in partnership to help out, get started, I guess. And then later on, most of those, they bought it back out, and then they were on their own.

LT: And this was Masuo Yasui?

TT: Yeah.

LT: Who owned the Yasui store downtown, and then helped other Issei to purchase property so they could become farmers in the Hood River area. Okay, thank you. What was your mother's name and where was she from?

TT: Matsuyo, she was from Fukushima, too, I think.

LT: And what do you know about her family?

TT: All I know is that her dad was a Buddhist minister or something like that, I think. I heard that. That's about all I know.

LT: Well, how did your mother come to the United States?

TT: Well, I don't know if they... more or less a "picture bride," I guess. Somebody in Japan knew both of 'em, so they, I guess they fixed 'em up. [Laughs]

LT: Did your father ever tell you about the choices that he made and how your mother became the one who was selected as his bride?

TT: No, he never did tell me that, but I think must have sent a picture of it or something. Lot of them had "picture brides," so that's all I ever heard.

LT: When I spoke with your father, he did say that he turned down the first two photos, and he chose the third one. And he said, "The best for me." So that was interesting. And I understood that they met in Seattle in May of 1918.

TT: Oh, is that right?

LT: And then came to Hood River. So where did they live and what kind of work did they do in Odell in Hood River?

TT: I think he just worked around the, for different farmers. He didn't buy land right away. And then later on, they couldn't buy land anyway. I think it was 1924 or something, he couldn't buy land. So a lot of them, when they did, later on when they bought land, they bought it in their children's name if they were twenty-one, they used to buy it in their children's name, and they used to farm that way.

LT: And so was the property that your father purchased after 1923 in your name or your sister's name?

TT: It was in my sister's name at first, and then when I got twenty-one, they transferred it to my name. That's how I got it.

LT: Okay. And what did your mother and your father raise on their property?

TT: Oh, after I bought it? It was pear orchard. It is a small pear orchard, I think it's only about twelve acres. And later on, when I started farming, then I started buying more land, because twelve acres is too small to make a living on, so I had to buy more land. Ended up a neighbor sold out, so I bought his land, his place and ended up about forty-five acres, somewhere in there.

LT: Okay, well, that's a considerable change from twelve acres to forty-five acres. Let's go back to the early years when your father and your mother had the property. What do you remember as a kid about living on a farm and raising pears?

TT: Well, when we bought the farm, I was high school age then, but before that, he rented a place and raised strawberries when I was in grade school. That was when I went to Middle Valley school, he rented that and raised strawberries there, renting it from somebody. And I think we raised strawberries 'til about 1930... let's see, 1935 or '6.

LT: Okay, okay.

<End Segment 2> - Copyright © 2014 Oregon Nikkei Endowment and Densho. All Rights Reserved.