Interview Date: January 26, 2012
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Interviewers: John Esaki, Yoko Nishimura
Camera: Evan Kodani
Contributed by Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum

© 2012 Japanese American National Museum

Transcript:
After I arrived in Japan the second time, I went to her father's home in Fujisawa, which was a high-end resort -- it was then -- high-end resort town south of Tokyo, about 60 miles I think. Anyway, I went to the house and Hamako was inside with her father and she said," There's a GI waiting out there at the gate, wants to talk with you." And the father, of course, knew I was an enemy and he said, "Send him away. We don't want anything to do with him." And Hamako said, "I can't do that, he came here 2 years and he wanted to marry me."

And so the father came to the door -- he's a big, tall, fine-looking, serious-looking, scary, Japanese man and I...of course he stood above - the house with floor was up and the mon where you came in was blowing and I looked up at him and I thought, uh oh this is gonna be terrible. And he came with a very serious face and I said, "Sir, I have come back from California to marry to your daughter -- for your permission to marry your daughter." Well, his expression changed right away and he said, "Come in" and he showed me to a nice room with a tokonoma and all kinds of Japanese stuff.

Anyway, I was happy as a lark; I could take off my shoes and leave them in the mon and walk on tatami and he was very nice to me.

свернуть