(Japanese) It was right when Nakako was born, so…it must have been around 1954, still at the beginning of when people were getting American citizenship, when everyone over here was studying for the citizenship exams and things and making a lot of noise about it. I got mine right away, really quickly. I got citizenship early on.
I told my husband that I didn’t want to lose my Japanese citizenship, and his response was that for the most part people cannot be loyal to two countries. So, he said me, “Do you want to be a real Japanese or do you want to marry me and be an American? Decide on one.” So, I thought about it, and he was right. It would be pretty impossible to hold two citizenships, to be loyal to two countries. So, after thinking about it, I concluded that if that were that case I would get an American citizenship and discard my Japanese one.
Date: January 26, 2012
Location: California, US
Interviewer: John Esaki, Yoko Nishimura
Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum
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