Small business
Japanese American businesses, such as groceries, fish shops, laundries, barbershops, public bathhouses, restaurants, drugstores, and dry goods stores, sprang up in communities along the West Coast. Women and children were vitally important to these "mom and pop" enterprises, as their free labor allowed the family to survive and even prosper during lean times.
Industry and employment
(482)
Small business
(400)
![Kunio Otani Segment 43 (ddr-densho-1000-75-43)](https://ddr.densho.org/media/cache/0b/a3/0ba3aa0bb586eaefba2fd571a60b5971.jpg)
![Kunio Otani Segment 48 (ddr-densho-1000-75-48)](https://ddr.densho.org/media/cache/0b/a3/0ba3aa0bb586eaefba2fd571a60b5971.jpg)
![Kunio Otani Segment 40 (ddr-densho-1000-75-40)](https://ddr.densho.org/media/cache/0b/a3/0ba3aa0bb586eaefba2fd571a60b5971.jpg)
![May K. Sasaki Segment 6 (ddr-densho-1000-79-6)](https://ddr.densho.org/media/cache/65/66/6566ce9713ad98b1936ae0b468020c77.jpg)
![Shosuke Sasaki Segment 3 (ddr-densho-1000-78-3)](https://ddr.densho.org/media/cache/8b/33/8b335aaa3e19e5b9f4b3cf37591bb399.jpg)
![Yosh Nakagawa Interview Segment 12 (ddr-densho-1000-172-12)](https://ddr.densho.org/media/cache/7c/f8/7cf80cdbdb3e426e972d360629f0ba16.jpg)
![Yosh Nakagawa Interview Segment 13 (ddr-densho-1000-172-13)](https://ddr.densho.org/media/cache/7c/f8/7cf80cdbdb3e426e972d360629f0ba16.jpg)
![Yosh Nakagawa Interview Segment 6 (ddr-densho-1000-172-6)](https://ddr.densho.org/media/cache/7c/f8/7cf80cdbdb3e426e972d360629f0ba16.jpg)
![Edith Watanabe Segment 8 (ddr-densho-1000-101-8)](https://ddr.densho.org/media/cache/46/4c/464c2a25da21ebd1f049afbe3c6d1ab2.jpg)
![Junkoh Harui Segment 5 (ddr-densho-1000-11-5)](https://ddr.densho.org/media/cache/43/ac/43acecdb59fcfecdaedbc4ce5d5bf061.jpg)
This interview was done outdoors in the Bainbridge Gardens Nursery which resulted in increased background noise and frequent interruptions by the business P.A. system.
![Junkoh Harui Segment 3 (ddr-densho-1000-11-3)](https://ddr.densho.org/media/cache/43/ac/43acecdb59fcfecdaedbc4ce5d5bf061.jpg)
This interview was done outdoors in the Bainbridge Gardens Nursery which resulted in increased background noise and frequent interruptions by the business P.A. system.
![Junkoh Harui Segment 4 (ddr-densho-1000-11-4)](https://ddr.densho.org/media/cache/43/ac/43acecdb59fcfecdaedbc4ce5d5bf061.jpg)
This interview was done outdoors in the Bainbridge Gardens Nursery which resulted in increased background noise and frequent interruptions by the business P.A. system.
![Junkoh Harui Segment 2 (ddr-densho-1000-11-2)](https://ddr.densho.org/media/cache/43/ac/43acecdb59fcfecdaedbc4ce5d5bf061.jpg)
This interview was done outdoors in the Bainbridge Gardens Nursery which resulted in increased background noise and frequent interruptions by the business P.A. system.
![Junkoh Harui Segment 10 (ddr-densho-1000-11-10)](https://ddr.densho.org/media/cache/43/ac/43acecdb59fcfecdaedbc4ce5d5bf061.jpg)
This interview was done outdoors in the Bainbridge Gardens Nursery which resulted in increased background noise and frequent interruptions by the business P.A. system.
![Junkoh Harui Segment 24 (ddr-densho-1000-11-24)](https://ddr.densho.org/media/cache/43/ac/43acecdb59fcfecdaedbc4ce5d5bf061.jpg)
This interview was done outdoors in the Bainbridge Gardens Nursery which resulted in increased background noise and frequent interruptions by the business P.A. system.
![Eddie Owada Interview Segment 2 (ddr-manz-1-37-2)](https://ddr.densho.org/media/cache/15/8d/158d51b5771ee68b8cb10ae35bba3ee6.jpg)
![George T.](https://ddr.densho.org/media/cache/4f/67/4f67d60440d30cdefa973cce38cd539f.jpg)
![Katsumi Okamoto Interview Segment 3 (ddr-manz-1-24-3)](https://ddr.densho.org/media/cache/08/ad/08adf9ce397d167614c1d46e8d39f763.jpg)
![Kenji Maruko Interview Segment 2 (ddr-densho-1010-8-2)](https://ddr.densho.org/media/cache/76/98/76988a502226f1705f928aff2c56fb47.jpg)
This material is based upon work assisted by a grant from the Department of the Interior, National Park Service. Any opinions, finding, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of the Interior.
![Mas Hashimoto Interview Segment 4 (ddr-densho-1015-7-4)](https://ddr.densho.org/media/cache/87/18/87187253ebbc19362235c8f33d00ed88.jpg)
![Jiro Sugidono Interview Segment 6 (ddr-densho-1015-2-6)](https://ddr.densho.org/media/cache/75/92/7592d9c461cff8a56d9d5610466daec1.jpg)
![Grace F. Oshita Interview Segment 3 (ddr-densho-1013-4-3)](https://ddr.densho.org/media/cache/b1/8d/b18d3ffc0ec37b956b33d371ab87d8e4.jpg)
![Grace F. Oshita Interview Segment 17 (ddr-densho-1013-4-17)](https://ddr.densho.org/media/cache/b1/8d/b18d3ffc0ec37b956b33d371ab87d8e4.jpg)
![Gerald L. Beppu Interview Segment 1 (ddr-densho-435-1-1)](https://ddr.densho.org/media/cache/41/19/411911f94a4b7b784f2ebbc3a9d2ccfc.jpg)
![Katsugo Miho Interview II Segment 3 (ddr-densho-1022-2-3)](https://ddr.densho.org/media/cache/b0/59/b059711cc6e909f38b195484858acc2a.jpg)