<Begin Segment 17>

BS: Jo, can you, let's go back in time a little bit here and ask Kenny a few questions about the time period that we're talking about. Sort of go back to, okay, we talked about the 1920s and the 1930s, ask a few questions about that. Let's get into this just a little bit.

JT: Oh, the '20s?

BS: Well, whenever this signature takes place for the transfer, whatever Kenny knows about that.

JT: Okay, I was supposed to... okay, so you were telling me that, well, of course, the folks had the ryokan on Park Street.

KN: Park Street.

JT: Buddhist Temple had its beginnings two houses away from your grandparents' hotel. So they must have been intimately involved with the Buddhist organization who wanted to make this temple here in Alameda. And you said that they wanted to buy this property but they couldn't. And what did you tell me about your father?

KN: Because if you're American citizen, you could buy a house in America. And there's about four guys that signed their names to this church as owner of the church, they're all Americans.

JT: Do you know any of the others besides Sam Narahara?

KN: No, I just know Sam Narahara. But Mas Takano knows, they've got records up here, too.

JT: Yes, we do have records. But that was in 1916, 1917. And so that's when this whole area was the center of Japantown.

KN: But I'm glad I live in this time and era.

JT: That's all I know about that.

BS: That's good. We just weren't clear about the time period that that took place. So I just wanted people who watch this to understand what that time period was.

[Interruption]

JT: Okay, I wanted to say thank you to Kenny for sharing your time and all your interesting memories about your family with us, because I know that it's going to be very valuable, not only now, but down the road when people don't know how we lived in our time, in our days.

KN: But really it's people like you that are making this thing go together. You get everybody around and make 'em talk and do things, they should give you a medal.

JT: Okay, thank you and good night.

<End Segment 17> - Copyright © 2021 Densho. All Rights Reserved.