<Begin Segment 13>

AI: Well, tell me a little bit more about the Pacific Market. Could you describe that, say a little bit about what it looked like and what the business was?

MK: Oh, okay. As I remember it, it was called Pacific Market on Jackson Street. And it, I believe it was the largest Japanese-owned market. And from what I understand, George, because we were minors yet, my father didn't have too much power himself, being an Issei, he used George Tsutakawa, the artist's, name, because he had just finished high school and was going to university. He used his name because he was over twenty, age twenty-one. And he was the president, probably in name only, but... and then for the vice president he had a Caucasian attorney. And so, I think he, by consulting, he was able to put this together in the right way. So he was very busy while we were in Japan. And I didn't know about this. [Laughs]

AI: Well, so, to, just to clarify for people who don't know, because of the laws against aliens owning property and businesses, and because your father was not eligible for citizenship --

MK: Right, right.

AI: -- as an Issei, then, it was your cousin, George, who -- and George was the son of your father's oldest brother.

MK: Shozo, oldest, uh-huh, oldest brother.

AI: Right. And so...

MK: So, this Pacific Market had the butcher, and the Japanese section, the produce, and they even included a florist. So, that was the beginning of the supermarket. I think Piggly Wiggly was a, one of the other supermarkets, but that was enclosed. It didn't have that open front. And then, I remember, next door we had another, just the produce. And then, we thought, wow, that's competition. They would interfere with our business, you know, in your child's mind. And my father explained that no, no, when you drive Jackson street, when you see all this front with the -- I forgot the name. (Harada). Their produce stand, and then the Pacific Market, well, anyone's driving on Jackson Street, he said, wow, that's the place to stop. It's worthy of stopping. So he would, always would see it in the positive (side). And so he was quite an entrepreneur or businessman. And so he never took it negatively as a competition. We were very friendly with the neighbor produce store.

AI: It sounds like his Pacific Market was quite unusual at the time, because, of course, now, nowadays a supermarket is the major form --

MK: It has everything.

AI: -- of store. It has everything. But at that time it was more usual to, each store would only have one type of good or service, is that right?

MK: Specialty, uh-huh.

AI: So usually you would not have, for example, the butcher together with the produce.

MK: Uh-huh, uh-huh. So, but, and I remember, he didn't really use us kids as a minor. But then, during Easter break, I remember Aunt Michiko, Jin's wife, used to be in charge of the flowers. And she would give me the job, with a chopstick; I would take out the lily stems, the stamens, because they would soil the Easter lilies. And so, that was my job. I'd get a few of these jobs. Of course, that didn't take very long, but we were never told to work in the store, to do any, any kind of a job. But to keep us...

AI: So, once in a while you would have a few --

MK: A few chores.

AI: -- chores, but it wasn't every day that you worked in the store.

MK: And I took advantage of the situation. I remember I often stopped by Pacific Market before I went to the Japanese school, dipped my hand in the senbei container. Put a, helped myself to the senbei and take it to Japanese school and fed everybody in class. I would grab a twenty-five cents bag of potato chips, which is pretty large, so, the employees didn't seem to say anything. So, I took advantage of that as one of my worst things I've done. I guess it's not the... [laughs]

AI: Well, as a child.

MK: As a child, yeah, you'll excuse it.

AI: Right.

<End Segment 13> - Copyright © 2003 Densho. All Rights Reserved.