Name/Title
Emie Yamate Oral History InterviewEntry/Object ID
RLG_103Scope and Content
This interview is part of the Represent Los Gatos Oral History Project series. Emiko (Emie) Yuki Yamate spent the first several years of her life on a farm in Salinas, but after her family was forced to relocate to Poston, Arizona at an internment camp during World War II, they were not welcomed back to Salinas. Instead, her family settled in Los Gatos. Hear her story, and what a mark her family has made on the Town of Los Gatos. Read a complete transcript of the interview below. Grace Song: [00:00:02] All right, so the recording has started and Emie, did you want to introduce yourself? Emie Yamate: [00:00:12] My name is Emie Yamate and I was, my maiden name is Yuki. And so we're going to talk about the Yuki family. So my grandparents, my mother's parents, came from my Kumamoto, Japan in 1898 or '89. And my father's family, Takeo Yuki, his father, father and mother, came in 1899 also. They didn't know each other, from completely different areas and so on my father's side. They came here. Because Japan was very depressed at that time and they came here to see if they could make some extra money, and then go back to Japan and give a more comfortable life. And then also my maternal grandparents, with the same idea that unfortunately... Oh, and my father was born. And then when he was two years old, his mother passed away. So the poor grandfather had to work with the toddler on his back and in 1911, when he was.. yeah 1911, my grandfather remarried with another Japanese woman. And so she was the lady that raised me. And I mean, she was my grandmother. And then on my mother's side, the parents were very, they had very poor health, and they passed away early. Emie Yamate: [00:02:37] And so anyway. On the Yuki side, the family and my father and mother married in 1931 and my father was a shipper, a lettuce shipper and he and he shipped lettuce and celery to the Midwest and East Coast, and he had a partner, Mr. Bunn, and they were very, very, very successful. And before the war, they were called the Lettuce Kings of California. And so anyway, in 1941, the war, you're familiar with Pearl Harbor and, we were forcibly put in a concentration camp in Salinas. I forgot to tell you this all happened in Salinas, and I mean, that's where. Grace Song: [00:04:08] They settled? Emie Yamate: [00:04:10] Yes, yes, that's where we were born. My my siblings have left, anyway I'm skipping around. And then in 1942, we were put into a camp on the rodeo grounds of Salinas. And then in three months we were put on a train and taken into the desert. And that was really horrible because I remember I was 10 and I remember the temperature was one hundred and twenty, and then we were put on a bus and driven in the desert and that's where we stayed for three years. I forgot to tell you that I was born in 1932, and I have a brother who's three years younger and then a baby at this time, a baby sister that was one years old, which is in 1942, and, So here we spent the duration of the war in this camp and then in 1945, two weeks before the war ended, My father and mother bought this house in Los Gatos, which is now called Bascom. Well, now there are Los Gatos-San Jose Boulevard. So that's that's when we first became acquainted with Los Gatos, and my father couldn't go back to Salinas because it was still very racist and he was not welcome there because he was a successful businessman. So we couldn't go back to. So that's that's why we landed in Los Gatos. Grace Song: [00:06:37] How did he make the decision to go to Los Gatos then? Did he hear good things about it or.. Emie Yamate: [00:06:45] I don't know. My mother and father came here searching for a place to live and I don't know why they maybe they picked San Jose and it was a choice of living in the Alum Rock area or Los Gatos. And my mother chose Los Gatos, which was a wise decision. Grace Song: [00:07:10] Yeah. And just to backtrack a little bit, what are your siblings names? Emie Yamate: [00:07:19] Ok, I have a brother, Thomas, and he's married to Carol and, My sister, Penny, she's, She's. Grace Song: [00:07:40] She's about nine years younger than you, right? Emie Yamate: [00:07:42] Nine years younger, Yes, OK. And she married into Morimoto, and they have two children. I have five and the youngest, Herbert, was actually born in Los Gatos. He was born in 1950. Grace Song: [00:08:09] Oh, wow, OK. Emie Yamate: [00:08:12] And lives in Malibu. Grace Song: [00:08:15] Ok, so you have three siblings, then. Emie Yamate: [00:08:20] I have, yes, OK, OK, but I have five children. Grace Song: [00:08:25] Big family. Wow, that's great. And so you landed in.. so two weeks before the war ended, then your parents were able to move to Los Gatos or at least buy a house there and. OK. And were you all able to travel together with the family? Emie Yamate: [00:08:49] Well, I was I was 13. I was a 12, 13. Yes, we came back. Oh, they came first and we we still had our car and he and he came back, he went, they came back, picked us up, and there was my grandmother too, So let's see how many in the car. Two, five, six, six people in a car. Grace Song: [00:09:23] Wow. And you said that your camp was in Arizona, correct? Emie Yamate: [00:09:30] Ok, yes. OK. By the Sonora. Well it was in the Sonora desert. Grace Song: [00:09:36] I see. Emie Yamate: [00:09:37] Very, very, very hot. Yeah. Daniel Keough: [00:09:44] Can I ask, what happened to the land in Salinas after you were removed? Emie Yamate: [00:09:51] I mentioned in the.. my father had a Caucasian partner, so we were uniquely fortunate because he kept the business going. But. Many, many people lost their.. Everything, you know, they were given, maybe, Less than five days notice that they had to leave and you can only bring what you can carry, and so they had to sell or store everything I mean, you had five days notice and you had to leave now. Grace Song: [00:10:37] Yes, I mean, each person was only allowed one bag, right? Emie Yamate: [00:10:42] Everybody has a different situation. Grace Song: [00:10:46] Yeah. Yeah. And your father was able to store his car and in Salinas with his partner, Emie Yamate: [00:10:55] He had everything. Grace Song: [00:10:56] OK. Emie Yamate: [00:10:58] As I say, we were uniquely fortunate. Grace Song: [00:11:04] But still, you couldn't return to Salinas or your father felt that it was unsafe. Right, because of the racism? Emie Yamate: [00:11:16] We got a letter from the bank, "don't come back". Grace Song: [00:11:20] Oh, wow. OK. Even though his business was successful, they still Emie Yamate: [00:11:28] Well, because it's because his business was successful. We were not welcome back Grace Song: [00:11:38] I see, OK, jumping forward then to moving to Los Gatos, you were about 12 or 13 and. Emie Yamate: [00:11:50] I went into eighth grade. At Cambrian school is no longer exists. And then there I went to Los Gatos and graduated in 1950. Grace Song: [00:12:09] Right, the same the same year as Bob Idemoto, Right? Emie Yamate: [00:12:12] Right, yeah, Grace Song: [00:12:14] Yeah, yeah. I heard that, from Bob that your family also attended the the Buddhist church in Japantown, right? Emie Yamate: [00:12:29] In San Jose. Grace Song: [00:12:31] When did she start attending there? Emie Yamate: [00:12:33] Well since, Grace Song: [00:12:35] You moved OK? OK. And were there other families in town that also attended the same temple besides Bob's family? Emie Yamate: [00:12:46] Oh, well, most of us were Japanese, Grace Song: [00:12:53] So there were other Japanese families that would go? Emie Yamate: [00:12:56] We have a beautiful temple. I don't know if you've seen it. Grace Song: [00:12:59] I have, yes. Yes, OK, Emie Yamate: [00:13:03] I was there before we came, I mean, we were newcomers. Daniel Keough: [00:13:09] Do you remember any of the names of the other families in town who attended the same temple? Emie Yamate: [00:13:18] Well, it's a big temple, Daniel Keough: [00:13:23] Mostly like did you go to school with any any people? So there's Bob Idemoto who whose family also is when it sounds like. Emie Yamate: [00:13:32] Well Bob Idemoto and I were the only Japanese at Los Gatos one. Grace Song: [00:13:37] In your class, maybe? Emie Yamate: [00:13:38] In our class there was one or two in each class. Grace Song: [00:13:46] Was your family involved in any organizations or anything during that time in Los Gatos? Emie Yamate: [00:14:00] No. Grace Song: [00:14:01] OK, but you did. But did you feel like there was a pretty good welcoming.. Emie Yamate: [00:14:14] Yes, but, Still, The war was fresh. Yeah, and we had the face of the enemy, you see. And people were not internationally knowledgeable like now, right? We were kind of. I hate to say freaks, but, oddities, especially in Los Gatos this.. San Jose, I'm sure there was more. Grace Song: [00:14:56] Yeah, yeah, so going to school then when you first came to Los Gatos, was that difficult for you? Emie Yamate: [00:15:09] No, I wasn't that sensitive to it. I think I was treated pretty good. Grace Song: [00:15:23] That's good to hear. I'm glad. See, so then he graduated in 1950. And school was relatively calm and and good for you and you were treated OK. What, where did you go after high school? Emie Yamate: [00:15:46] I went to San Jose State, and in my third year. I met, I met my husband, who was going to University of Santa Clara as a pre-med student and then I graduated in 1954 and we got married, so I moved to, we moved to St. Louis because he was going to medical school and I was there for three years. When we married, he was a freshman in medical school. And, spent three years and then we came back and he was an intern at the County, we used to call it the county hospital, the medical center, you know, on Bascom, the big hospital. Yes. And we spent a year again in this area, and then when he finished his internship, he volunteered to be drafted because there was a draft and they had post, Postponed his draft until he finished his education so soon as he stopped, I mean finished his education, he knew he was going to get drafted. So we got that out of the way. And we spent three years in Germany, which was a great time. Emie Yamate: [00:17:36] What do you want to know about me? Pardon me? Daniel Keough: [00:17:39] I'm sorry, was he based in Germany or was he sent out? Emie Yamate: [00:17:46] He was based in Pirmasens, Münchweiler Haus hospital, and we were able to stay together, so we had a wonderful time and in Europe and then became we came back and he went to the subspecialty, residency in Ann Arbor, Michigan. So we were four years there and he he started his practice right away, in San Jose, and he was very successful. Started by himself into the allergy, asthma allergy. Grace Song: [00:18:47] Oh, OK, very cool. And your husband is from the Bay Area? Emie Yamate: [00:18:55] He was from Monterey originally? Grace Song: [00:18:58] Yes. Emie Yamate: [00:18:59] Before the war? He was, he was from Monterey. Grace Song: [00:19:05] Oh, OK. OK. And then he he went to Santa Clara University for school. Right. OK, I see. And so you both were.. Emie Yamate: [00:19:15] But he went to Campbell High School. Grace Song: [00:19:18] Oh, OK. Emie Yamate: [00:19:19] And in our days it was very nice. Yeah. Really. Grace Song: [00:19:26] And you didn't know each other, then though when he went to Campbell?. I see. So you both had the desire to always sort of settle down in this area in Los Gatos? Emie Yamate: [00:19:42] Yes, I guess I don't know. Yeah, you know. World affairs, we ended up in Michigan because he volunteered to spend instead of two years, three years in the United States Army, and they offered him if he stays for three years, he would be. I would be, what do you call it, a dependent. So I had all the privileges of being in the army and then he was supposed to be and they promised him a curtailment to start residency. Well. Well, the the. Things got very bad. Let's see, that's when the wall went up in Berlin. So, his curtailment was denied and the school that he was supposed to attend or accepted at would not wait for him. So the officers all felt sorry for him. And that's how we ended up in the University of Michigan. It was something of the world. Grace Song: [00:21:23] Yeah, yeah. OK, I see. Well, Emie Yamate: [00:21:27] I mean, we didn't choose that, but it was wonderful, wonderful four years in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Grace Song: [00:21:37] Did you live anywhere else besides it sounds like you guys moved around a lot because of his involvement in the Army. Emie Yamate: [00:21:46] And I have five children and I only have one that was born in California. Grace Song: [00:21:53] Ok, so when did you when were you able to come back to California? After Michigan? Emie Yamate: [00:22:00] Yes, one, two, Fifty six, fifty fifty seven. Yes, 1957, that was the internship, and then from there in 1959, we were we were in Germany. '59. Grace Song: [00:22:31] I see, OK, Emie Yamate: [00:22:33] My first child was born there. Grace Song: [00:22:38] And meanwhile all your siblings were still in California, right? Emie Yamate: [00:22:43] My brother Tom went to University of Santa Clara. And then he also he was also drafted into Germany. Coincidental. Ok, so he was there two years and then I came. Grace Song: [00:23:05] Ok, so let's see. Just going back a little bit then. Emie Yamate: [00:23:13] Oh, and then my sister, yes, Penny, and she went to UC Berkeley and she married Ed Morimoto. And my youngest brother is the only one born in Los Gatos in 1950. Grace Song: [00:23:39] When you graduated! Emie Yamate: [00:23:41] Yeah, well, my mother had us very far apart. I'm 9 years older than Penny. Grace Song: [00:23:55] Ok, and were you pretty close with I guess you couldn't have been that close to Herbert because he was so much younger. But were you pretty close with your other siblings? Yes. Emie Yamate: [00:24:09] Well, Grace Song: [00:24:11] Because you're the oldest and so you probably had to take care of them a lot. Emie Yamate: [00:24:15] And my sister and I were nine years apart. Yeah. And I'm already ancient. Yeah. So until she got married and then we got close. Nothing in common. Grace Song: [00:24:34] I see. So going back a little bit then your father, He, What did he do when he settled in Los Gatos? Emie Yamate: [00:24:52] Well, he still ran the business with Mr. Bunn and he went there weekly and and a lot of telephoning. When we were in camp, there was no telephone. And so I guess they did it by correspondence but he made all the big decisions. And it was very difficult because he's languishing in this prison and. Yeah. Emie Yamate: [00:25:34] Oh, so camp life. When we first went, there was, of course, very disorganized, but we had to educate the children. And they had makeshift teachers barely out of high school. And, you know, we had to we didn't know how long we were going to be there and. you know, they became policemen and different kind of careers they have to create from nothing. And my father, who is a businessman, became a cook and he didn't know before before that he didn't know how to boil water. But then he learned a lot and that that became his hobby after, in his later years. But people had to be creative. Grace Song: [00:26:45] Yeah, definitely. What were your hobbies growing up? Emie Yamate: [00:26:53] Oh, you mean when I was in camp? Grace Song: [00:26:55] or just in general to or in camp? Emie Yamate: [00:26:58] Yeah, but we went hiking, it was very hot to remember it was very hot, and I learned to swim there and. For us kids, it was it was fun because I grew up in a lettuce field with nothing and then to go in and then have so many children your age. It was. It was fun, but. Daniel Keough: [00:27:41] Do you remember anything like your parents doing to feel like like it was normal, like did you do remember anything that they did to make you feel comfortable? Emie Yamate: [00:27:54] Well, we were actually, in a safe community, because we're all Japanese and they don't do crimes and we were pretty much let loose. Grace Song: [00:28:14] Did they, Bob was telling me that at Heart Mountain for the first month or two, they had barbed wire fences and then they took them down because they didn't really need them. Now, was that the same case for you? Emie Yamate: [00:28:31] When we were put into the rodeo grounds with were guarded with with guns, I mean kids to go near them, they would point that gun at you. And then we went to Poston and there was the fence that you couldn't escape in Poston because many people died when they went into the desert. They didn't need walls. Right. Soldiers at first. And then they realized we were not dangerous people. Yeah. So they became very lax, but we still couldn't go out. And then about the second, third year, second year, they allowed young people, young men to go out and do some work. And, you know, and also they were also drafted at the end and. Uh. And little by little, they were let out but people who were left in the camp, it was really awful because they just that they took the people away from home and now when the United States government says now you can go leave. Well, they didn't know where to go and there were some very tragic situations, but we were OK. But I feel sorry for some of our friends. Grace Song: [00:30:39] Did you keep in touch with any of the other friends that you met there to? Emie Yamate: [00:30:50] No, I didn't. A lot of people did, of course. Grace Song: [00:30:57] I assume it might have been hard to keep in touch if you didn't know where they were going or if they didn't know where they were going. So, yeah, it's difficult. So then, I guess did you have anything else you wanted to share about camp life or did you want to talk more about after that? Emie Yamate: [00:31:27] Well, uh. As I said, we were children, but if you think about it, Franklin Delano Roosevelt really, yeah, did a bad thing. Yeah, my father kept saying they can't do this to me because I'm an American citizen. And so we were one of the last ones to go in. But it was one hundred percent no Japanese on the West Coast. 120,000 so we were a very small people and very lawful, and we all paid our taxes, and do you know about the 442nd? Grace Song: [00:32:31] Yes, yes, I know that we had a speaker from the Japanese American Museum who talked a little bit about that at the library when we were open last year. Yeah. Emie Yamate: [00:32:46] They were the most decorated. Yeah, oh, yes, yeah. There was no one in my family because my father was too.. Too young to be the First World War, he was too young. Second World War he was too old to be drafted. And then and then we were all too young, so there was nobody involved in the army. Grace Song: [00:33:28] Daniel did you have a question? Daniel Keough: [00:33:33] I was wondering, how old was your father when when your family was sent to the. I guess in Salinas? Emie Yamate: [00:33:48] How would I figure that out? Daniel Keough: [00:33:48] I could probably do some math. What was his year? What was he born? Emie Yamate: [00:33:53] He was born in 1905 and we were put in camp in 1945. So we did the math. About 40 I was 13. I was I was I was going to be your 10, or nine. I was 10 when we went to camp when the war started, I was still nine, cause my birthday's on the 19th of December. Grace Song: [00:34:24] I think so he was 40. Emie Yamate: [00:34:28] He was 40? Daniel Keough: [00:34:34] And did he ever talk about when you when you returned back to Los Gatos as a family? Did he ever talk about his experience as far as finding a place to live? Like, was it hard for him to find a house where someone would purchase. Emie Yamate: [00:34:50] Someone would sell us a house? Yeah, I do remember. Mr. Giannandrea, we bought it, we bought the house from an Italian. Daniel Keough: [00:35:07] What was the name that you said? Emie Yamate: [00:35:09] Giannandrea, Mr. Gian.. And I remember he still my father, I'm going to sell you this house because we're Italians and we fought on the same side of the war. Grace Song: [00:35:27] Oh, wow. Emie Yamate: [00:35:28] He was joking because, you know, my father could not buy a house. There was still still prejudice. And I remember him saying that he couldn't even buy insurance for the house. So he had to go to the Lloyd's of London because nobody would sell us insurance. Daniel Keough: [00:35:55] It sounds like he was lucky to have connections through business, to be able to use those to to know where to go, to be able to purchase a house. Emie Yamate: [00:36:08] And it was very difficult to buy a house, Even in Los Gatos. Yeah. Well, I had a pretty easy life. Grace Song: [00:36:38] I think I just going to say, well, everyone had their own challenges and sounds like you had challenges of your own. Yeah, um. But go ahead, Daniel. Daniel Keough: [00:36:51] I was just going to ask how how it was that the at the house where they ended up living in Los Gatos, what was life like there throughout high school for you? Emie Yamate: [00:37:02] Well, you know, we still own that house. At the very beginning, like I was telling you. Many families had nowhere to go. So we, there were, we took in all our relatives. And the house is still there and it's a two story house, and we had a family living in the basement. We had a family living on the farm that exists there, We had two, three families until they can find other places. So it was a lot of fun cause all my cousins were there with us so. Grace Song: [00:38:10] Was all your extended family at the same camp as you? Emie Yamate: [00:38:15] Pardon me? Grace Song: [00:38:16] Was all of your extended family like your cousins, were they all at the same camp as you? Ok. But that probably wasn't the case for a lot of other families, right? They must have gotten split up. Emie Yamate: [00:38:32] Well, they took them by areas, Grace Song: [00:38:35] I see. Emie Yamate: [00:38:37] So we were from Salinas and most of the people went into this camp close to two and some were split and went to other camps but almost all of Salinas went to camp to Poston. Grace Song: [00:39:02] And so did your cousins and your aunts and uncles, were they, I guess, working in your father's business too? In Salinas? Oh, OK, so they had different professions and different fields that they worked in. I see. And so did most of them stay in Los Gatos after they sort of found their own place to live? Emie Yamate: [00:39:36] They they lived in the area. Grace Song: [00:39:41] Ok. That must have been nice, having. Emie Yamate: [00:39:44] Not Los Gatos. Grace Song: [00:39:49] In San Jose area and things like that, Campbell? Ok, and what's your did your father just continue that business and or did he sort of ever start anything new? Emie Yamate: [00:40:12] I guess the business still exists, I mean, the. And yes, the. Property that we bought in Los Gatos from He was a. Mr. Giannandrea had a vineyard and it should have stayed a vineyard, but instead he pulled all the grapes out and he put walnuts. So it's a walnut field. Grace Song: [00:40:52] And Mr. Giannandrea did that or your father did that? Emie Yamate: [00:40:55] No, no, my father. Daniel Keough: [00:41:00] Do you know why he chose walnuts? Emie Yamate: [00:41:02] I don't know. I don't know why they've not been very successful, but it's still there. Daniel Keough: [00:41:15] You know, Do you know the address of the house? Grace Song: [00:41:23] Well, they still live there, right? OK, I think well, you don't live there, but I believe maybe your your brother does or you still own the house. Emie Yamate: [00:41:35] Not not that house. He built the house on the property. Grace Song: [00:41:39] Oh, I see. Emie Yamate: [00:41:46] And then my mother, built another, my father passed away in nineteen. Father passed away when he was 63 years old, what year was that? Daniel Keough: [00:42:02] 1968? Emie Yamate: [00:42:07] '67 i think. And then my mother passed away when she was 93, but my father was 63, and after he passed away, my mother built another large house next to the Giannandrea house. Grace Song: [00:42:31] I see. And. And so. Your your relatives still live there. Emie Yamate: [00:42:40] Then my sister, my sister, because her husband passed away and she lives there with a caregiver. Grace Song: [00:42:54] And I believe it was Penny who used to work for the library? Yeah, OK. And do you know how long she worked for the library? Emie Yamate: [00:43:04] No, I don't. Grace Song: [00:43:07] Did you. Did you have any sort of like part time jobs or anything in Los Gatos when you were growing up or was that? Emie Yamate: [00:43:20] I did when I was going to college. I don't know what it is now, but it was the Nolan Drug Store. It was right by highway 9 on Santa Cruz Avenue, Grace Song: [00:43:40] And you worked there throughout college? I'm sorry? Emie Yamate: [00:43:45] As a student, as a student, he had a drugstore, a pharmacy, and on the side he sold art goods and I wasn't very good.. But if you look it up, there was a drug store. There was many drug stores in Los Gatos. I don't know if you know that. But if you look it up, there's Nolan's. Grace Song: [00:44:20] Do you know where it was located? Emie Yamate: [00:44:22] Yeah, it was Highway nine. And it was. Well. On the side of the theater, same side. It's not a drug store now. I don't know what it is now. Everything's changed. Yeah, yeah. It was a grocery store in the middle of the main street, santa cruz avenue. Grace Song: [00:44:59] Right in the downtown area. Did you happen to live, like, in the dormitory in San Jose State or were you living at home? Emie Yamate: [00:45:15] I was living at home. Grace Song: [00:45:17] And did you take the bus to go to your classes? Emie Yamate: [00:45:21] I, I think I learned to drive. Oh, OK. I used to take the Peerless Bus from Los Gatos from You know, from my home to the high school. Grace Song: [00:45:40] How long did that take? Emie Yamate: [00:45:42] Oh I don't know. So you know, if I was real industrious, I could take a bicycle, but nah that's too far. Do you know the Peerless bus? Grace Song: [00:45:57] I heard about it from Bob, actually, oh, yeah, Emie Yamate: [00:46:03] Did you do an interview with Bob? Grace Song: [00:46:05] Yeah, I did. Yeah, he's, uh, he did a wonderful job talking about his life, and he gave lots of details, and it was really fun. Yeah, he's a really nice man. Yeah. Do you still keep in touch with any of your friends from high school? Well, people you grew up with, Emie Yamate: [00:46:28] We weren't much of a friends in high school, but, uh. We became much more friends in our adult life. He used to, I don't know if he told you, but he always said he was the president of our class and he always arranged the reunion. Every five years there's a reunion. Always enjoy it, but, I don't know if this is the sixtieth wow reunion, the 60th high school reunion, he does a real good job and. But I don't know about this year. We should have one this year. Grace Song: [00:47:33] How has life been for you during the pandemic, has it been OK for you? Emie Yamate: [00:47:41] I don't know. I'm told don't go out. Grace Song: [00:47:47] Well, that's the way to keep healthy and safe during this time. So are you. So you mentioned that you did a talk for the Loma Prieta Club about your time at the camp. Do you are you are part of any of those clubs or are you a part of and any clubs organizations here in Los Gatos right now? So they just reached out to you because. Emie Yamate: [00:48:20] My daughter was very active and, you know, the Loma Prieta Club, so she asked me if I would do it. OK, so I'll send that to you. Grace Song: [00:48:33] Sure. Yeah, that'll be great. Um, how many? How many? I know you have five children. How many grandchildren do you have? Emie Yamate: [00:48:42] I have thirteen grandchildren and I got 11 great grandchildren. Grace Song: [00:48:48] Wow. Congratulations. Emie Yamate: [00:48:51] We haven't even started because. You know, we only have only three out of 13 married and I think I'll have more. Grace Song: [00:49:07] Probably. Emie Yamate: [00:49:08] I had one daughter who was in Japan. She married. She went to UCLA and then she made one trip to Japan and met somebody. And she stayed and she's a grandmother and she she has six, seven grandchildren. Daniel Keough: [00:49:31] Do they all live in Japan? Emie Yamate: [00:49:33] Yes. Grace Song: [00:49:36] Did you grow up speaking Japanese at all? Emie Yamate: [00:49:39] I you know, I spent a lot of time with my grandmother, so until I was five years old, I didn't speak English and we were forbidden to speak English because then it would be disrespectful to the grandmother. So my brother Tom and I started speaking. Now, as soon as we went to school, of course, we were bilingual. Grace Song: [00:50:05] Wow interesting. So do you still speak some, or, I know that language is easy to lose the language. Emie Yamate: [00:50:18] I could, I could, This is one hundred year old Japanese, I mean, the language, you know, it's what the immigrants and in a hundred years, many words change, even in English, and so I speak the language of my grandmother and I go back to Japan and they laugh at me, at my language. Grace Song: [00:... [truncated due to length]Collection
Represent Los Gatos Oral History ProjectOral History Details
Interviewee
Yuki Yamate, EmikoInterview Date
Sep 10, 2020Primary Language
EnglishRecording Media
MP4Oral History Notes
Creator: Los Gatos Library
Publisher: Los Gatos Library
Video recordingCopyright
Notes
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