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Oral
History K-M
CHIYOE
KOBAYASHI
Mrs.
Kobayashi (76) is the daughter of Yoshigo Manji, Issei farmer
known for his pioneering efforts in growing ìmochi gomeî or
sweet rice in the
Northern California
area. Born in Marysville, she went to
Japan
at age 16 and stayed twenty-one years. She married Iwao
Kobayashi, a naval officer in
Japan
in April, 1940 and spent the war years in
Japan
while her parents were confined in
Tule
Lake
Relocation
Center
. They have four children and seven grandchildren and are
retired in
Sacramento
.
MOTOKO
KOBAYASHI
Perhaps
kodomo no tame ni (for the sake of the children) best
characterizes the life of Mrs. Kobayashi (84). She was sent to
Japan
at a very early age to live with relatives, and at age 19 she
returned to
America
. One of seven children, the family lived and worked long hours
on farms in the
Seattle
and
Portland
areas barely meeting expenses. She married Kotaro Kobayashi and
raised four children. World War II was spent in the
Tule
Lake
Relocation
Center
which she calls a ìbad placeî because of many fights between
pro-Japanese and pro-American groups. The family moved to
Placer
County
and later to
Sacramento
to retire. Her four children have college degrees and pursued
professional careers. The oldest son, Charles, was recently
honored by the
Sacramento
community after his selection as "Judge of the Year"
by the Sacramento Bar Association.
DOROTHY LOVE
MACK
Mrs. Mack
(1902-1996) was interviewed at age 90 by (Non-Nikkei) James
Carlson, Director of Library Services,
American
River
College
, and Lynn Kataoka. There are two pages of photos and fifty-five
pages of text. Mrs. Mack grew up and went to schools in the
Sacramento
area. A Non-Nikkei public school teacher and real friend to
Japanese Americans, she considers being a teacher to them as
"a most satisfactory experience" With great empathy to
their plight, she helped them to prepare for the forced
relocation
and
resettlement after the camps were closed. Frequent reference is
made to another Non-Nikkei Robert Fletcher and his friendly and
helpful relationship to Al and Mary Tsukamoto.
HARRY MAKINO
Harry (83)
was a resident of many places--
Japan
,
Alaska
,
Seattle
,
Tule
Lake
,
Chicago
,
Los Angeles
, and
Clarksburg
,
California
. He was born in Eastern Washington in 1914 and his family moved
to
Alaska
when he was six months old. After the death of his father, his
mother returned to
Japan
with the children. Three months later, he returned alone at 16
years of age to
Seattle
where he started at
Garfield
High School
. Then, he stayed at Higashi Hongwanji in
Los Angeles
and did odd jobs for three years during the Great Depression of
the Thirties. He rejoined his sister in
Clarksburg
and went to
Clarksburg
High School
. He was sent to
Tule
Lake
where he married Frances Kawasaki and went to
Chicago
and worked in the poultry business. They returned to
Clarksburg
in 1949. After his poultry business was wiped out due to
disease, he went to work for the post office until his
retirement.
MASAKI PERCY
TAKESHI
Interviewed
at age 85 with his wife, Gladys, (Imahara) present, Mr. Masaki
is enjoying retirement with his three children (Setsuo, Colleen
and Harry) and seven grandchildren. He has a
Sacramento
High School
education, but he and his wife encouraged their children, as
they attended Universities of Michigan and Berkeley. Currently
all are practicing in the medical professions. During prewar,
Percy Masaki operated a supermarket in
North Sacramento
. They spent six months at
Tule
Lake
, moved to
Ogden
,
Utah
, returned to
Sacramento
in 1945 and engaged in insurance and real estate work. A life
member of JACL, he was president of the Sacramento Chapter in
1956 and also is active in the
Buddhist
Church
.
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