<Begin Segment 16>

DH: Then, tell us what happened to the business after your parents returned, and after the Sekos returned.

JH: Well, they -- my uncle, my father, and their families, had a meeting, and I guess after addressing the devastation that they witnessed here, they split the partnership. And, basically, the Sekos got the grocery store and most of the east side of the property, east of Miller Road, and we got the west side. And it was my father's goal then, to start a nursery under the name of Harui Gardens on the west side of the property.

DH: And did he succeed in doing that?

JH: Somewhat. He was not totally successful because we were undercapitalized, and he was getting a little bit older, and didn't have the energy level that he had previously. So, they eked out a living all those years. It was a very difficult life, but they seemed to eke out a living and were able to sustain themselves, and... but he never, I think, reached the goal that he wanted to be, wanted the Bainbridge, or Harui Gardens to be what it was.

DH: He and your brother started rebuilding.

JH: That's right. Norio was responsible for building a lot of the buildings, and helped my dad.

DH: So there was a nursery and what else, then?

JH: Basically it was just a produce garden and a nursery. And greenhouses, of course.

DH: Did he ever talk about the loss, that he wasn't able to restore it?

JH: Well, yes, on occasion. There was only one occasion which this came out. One time, he took me along on a planting job, and he was pointing out several trees in people's yards and said, "You know, those are mine." And so, I'm sure the hurt was there.

DH: But he never really talked about it?

JH: Never really, no.

DH: How do you think he felt?

JH: Oh, I'm sure he was crushed when he saw all the years that were, that he had put in to build the Bainbridge Gardens up, totally devastated. I mean, it was, it must have been real traumatic for him. But you know, he never expressed that to -- at least not to me. I guess the positive effect of trying to rebuild was his goal, and apparently he put the past behind him.

<End Segment 16> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.