MATSUMOTO​,​ Tamahei

In June 1924, when they said the immigration law was going to change, I hurried back to Japan and got married. We came back on a Russian ship — it was one of the very last immigrant ships. If it hadn’t been for the war, we probably never would have known New York. Before that, we were in Portland. It was a quiet place, and people were friendly — maybe even warmer — but wherever you live becomes home, doesn’t it? Still, Japan is the best. It’s where I was born, and I want to return to Japanese soil. I don’t wish to become part of American soil. During the war, I was sent to a camp in Idaho. This interview is part of the DMHJNY's new exhibit Issei: Portraits Of The First-Generation Japanese New Yorkers which is on view here: https://www.historyofjapaneseinny.org/issei/