<Begin Segment 19>

REM: You have two children that we haven't talked about. Would you tell us something about them? They're Sansei, and their outlook on today and the future, and how you raised them to be, Japanese culture and American culture in mind?

RTM: Well, I think we were pretty fortunate. Our kids turned out to be pretty good through all this, the era that they grew up in. And my son, Greg, took over the greenhouse operation, and he's third-generation in that business. And my daughter went to Western Washington University in Bellingham and became a schoolteacher, and she started teaching school at the Washington, Lake Washington School District. And then she had an opportunity to go to California to work with film production. And so my niece had a job down there, and she said, "There's an opening coming up." So she talked to Becky about coming down and applying for this position, and so she got the job down there. And she worked, she worked for Aaron Spelling Productions for a number of years. She worked on films like Dallas and Love Boat and so on. So she's still down there doing the same kind of work with other production companies now. And so all in all, I think our two kids turned out pretty well.

REM: You've received many awards, and in particular, one of the highest awards the Japanese give, the Japanese government, for the betterment of American-Japanese relations. Would you talk a little bit about the Order of the Sacred Treasure?

RTM: Well, I was very fortunate to be nominated for the Order of the Sacred Treasure Gold and Silver rays from the Japanese government. I felt that in my position as mayor of Fife, I had an opportunity to do the goodwill work between this country and Japan, by working with the different companies that came in our area looking for areas to, to set up business. And so couple of times, I've gone to Japan to visit with these different companies and to help promote good relations between Japan and America. Because of the fact that the State of Washington depends so highly on the exports to Japan for, for instance, I think State of Washington is one of the, probably about the second highest exporters to Japan in North America. And so being able to participate in this, hopefully through our action that we were able to promote goodwill between the two countries. So getting a kunsho from Japan, I think is very prestigious and I'm very proud of that.

REM: You've also received a National Japanese American Citizens League award. Can you tell me a little more about that?

RTM: Well, from National JACL, I was presented a Ruby Pin, which is for service over and above the local chapter level. And so that's another thing that I'm very proud of, too, is the fact that Ruby Pins and Sapphire Pins are not doled out too easily, and so being able to be a recipient of one of those, I, I really feel very grateful about that.

REM: One of the most unusual -- and it's not an award in particular, but your work at resolving the Puyallup Indian land claim problem with the federal government. I think people would like to know as a Japanese American, you were involved in settling an issue that's been around since 1855. Would you talk a little bit about your service on the committee that worked to solve this, and how it came, the ending of it?

RTM: Well, because of the fact that the city of Fife is wholly on the Puyallup Indian Reservation, that -- original Indian reservation, actually, and so I was involved in the settlement of the Puyallup land claims incident in Pierce County there. That was a very interesting experience, really. When we look back about the kinds of denials that we went through and what the Indians go through too, to this date, so we do have some kind of a common bond actually there. And being asked to, to participate on the committee, I really enjoyed that part of it, to get to know more about the history of our area and what's going on.

REM: How did that revolve itself? How, how did that finally come about that -- I think since 1991, the settlement has been successful. Do you remember the, let's say, the clutch moment when, when agreement was forthcoming when you were on that committee? I don't think I've ever heard an explanation of how they finally arrived at something the Indians could accept and something that the federal government would accept?

RTM: 'Course, it involves a lot of money. And I think there was about hundred-some million dollars given to the Puyallup Indian Tribes for the settlement of, of all the claims that they had in the area. So one of the things is that Senator Dan Inouye is on the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, I think. I think he chaired it at one time or another. And so when he came to Tacoma, being that he's a member also of the 442nd that, we two also had some kind of a bond there. And I was able to work with him as a member of the committee, and, and we came to a very satisfactory resolution of the problem that we had with the Indian claims.

REM: You also had a hand in the founding of the University of Washington, Tacoma. Sort of the... a great --

RTM: Well, I was on the original advisory committee of the University of Washington there in Tacoma.

REM: How did you get a branch campus at the, in Tacoma?

RTM: Well, we talked to, talked to University of Washington about bringing a campus down to Tacoma. They were very reluctant about doing such a thing. So then we got to talking with Washington State University, and they came over to look around to see if there was a place to put a campus here in the Tacoma area. And so when that happened, of course, that awakened some of the people in the University of Washington. Board of Regents and, whatever, that if they don't do it, then University, I mean, Washington State University would be coming over. And 'course, there's a rivalry between the two schools, so they didn't want that to happen. And so University of Washington got busy about, "Maybe we better do this before Washington State University comes over and does it." So the original advisory committee for the University of Washington-Tacoma was formed, and I was fortunate enough to be asked to work on that project. And that...

<End Segment 19> - Copyright © 2000 Densho. All Rights Reserved.