Interviews
About her father
Oh my father was a typical Issei I would say. Number 1: he was super strict. And yet - that’s only one facet of his personality. But he did care for us, he was a very hard worker and I would say to the end of his life, he was super ethical. And so he had strength of character and he had a very good sense of humor. I used to go, I mean, he was in…was it Taul Building on First and San Pedro? Well, he had an office on a corner on the third floor and a lot of times I would ask him if he wanted me to clean his office, so I would go and clean his office and then children would come and he would be laughing and gushing over them and all this and that and he was really friendly, etc. and he would give them something later on and I would come home and say, “gee momma, how come papa is so nice to kids and he’s always telling us that hmph!” You know, and his favorite word to me was “baka!”
Date: February 3, 2010
Location: California, US
Interviewer: Eiko Masuyama, Carole Fujita, Yoko Nishimura
Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum
Explore More Videos
Taking pride in children’s surgery
(b.1925) Sansei, cardiovascular surgeon.
Former child patient turned professional volleyball player
(b.1925) Sansei, cardiovascular surgeon.
Growing up with Japanese language and values
(1925 - 2018) Nisei educator from Hawai‘i
Retaining Japanese customs (Spanish)
(b. 1950) Nisei Chilean, Businessman
Studying Japanese to understand her grandfather (Spanish)
Sansei Argentinean
The most memorable day of his life (Japanese)
(b. 1917) Okinawan, Issei Argentinean
No more close family in Japan (Spanish)
(1925-2014) La Plata Hochi, Journalist
Need generational change in Japanese community (Spanish)
(1925-2014) La Plata Hochi, Journalist