<Begin Segment 1>

LG: I'm the interviewer, my name is Lauren Griffin, we are already here with Darlene in Seabrook. The date is Monday, June 19, 2023. So to start off, could you introduce yourself, your name, and what generation you identify as?

DM: I am Darlene Sadayo Mitsui Mukoda, and I'm a Sansei. My parents were born in this country.

LG: Where were your parents born?

DM: My parents were born in Northern California. My grandfather had settled there, and I guess when they came to the States, they usually came alone. So they tend to gather in groups of people who came from the same area in Japan, I guess they felt a little more secure. So there was a small group of people who came from Yamaguchi-ken in Japan and they settled in Northern California.

LG: Do you know when your grandparents came over?

DM: You know, it was the early, early 1900s. Because my dad was born in 1911, and he wasn't the first child. So I know there were... my grandfather was of the group where you had to go to Hawaii first and then come to the United States. So he was in Hawaii for, I think they had to be there for like seven years or whatever, and then he came to the United States.

LG: Do you know much about your grandparents, what they did?

DM: Well, obviously my grandfather wasn't the first son. Because if he were the first son, he would have stayed in Japan. But I don't know what they did in Japan. When he came to this country, like a lot of the other Japanese, he did what he could, and I guess farming was about the easiest. You didn't need the education, you didn't need language skills. So he did start out as a farmer in California.

LG: So you said your father was born in 1911. What about your mother?

DM: My mother was born in 1917.

LG: And her parents?

DM: You know, it's interesting because evidently, my grandfather, my maternal grandfather was in the United States, but I don't know what the circumstances were. I don't know if my maternal grandmother was here, but I know my paternal grandfather was here, because we have a picture of him when he was in the States. And when he went back, I have no idea. And so a lot of things I wish I had asked, but a lot of things, because I didn't ask, remain a mystery. So that's one of the mysteries, why was my grandfather in the United States and why did he go back to Japan?

LG: So was your mother born in the United States?

DM: My mother was born in the United States as well.

LG: In Northern California?

DM: Yeah, in Northern California.

<End Segment 1> - Copyright © 2023 JACL Philadelphia. All Rights Reserved.