Sometime before World War I, Hiro Suzuki emigrated
from Hiroshima to this
country to make his fortune. Back in Japan, his father's family had changed
their last name from Tottori to Suzuki because the oldest son, Hiro's uncle,
had developed a reputation that brought disgrace upon the family. Hiro was
the only son in his family. Initially upon arriving in the United States at
age seventeen, Hiro first worked for the railroad, then got a job as a house
boy, but disliked both jobs. When a friend, Mr. Sendai, employed him on a
farm in Gresham, Oregon, Hiro found that he enjoyed working with plants.
At some point after moving to Oregon, Ichiro returned to Japan where, as was
common practice, a marriage broker who was familiar with both families
arranged a match. That is how in 1918 he met and married twenty-year-old
Sanae.
