<Begin Segment 32>

TI: During this period, so after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and before the Japanese were removed from Seattle, Jimmy Sakamoto was a pretty visible, vocal person. I think he was, wrote articles for the large daily newspapers talking about the loyalty of Japanese Americans and things like that. Did you ever talk to him about this? Did he ever talk to you about his beliefs and what he was thinking?

HH: Well, he never did talk to me directly because I was still young and they were older. But he did have contacts with some of the early leaders of the Progressive League, is what JACL eventually became. But Seattle had a Progressive League, and people like Jimmy Sakamoto and Clarence Arai and Takeo Nogaki, some of, about four or five people, Nisei, they were more or less active as, in the Progressive League.

TI: And when he got together with these other men, what did they do? What did they talk about or what did they, what happened?

HH: Well, I think they were more concerned about the articles coming on the newspapers, the public newspapers, Times, P-I.

TI: Well, which brings up kind of another story that you mentioned earlier, how... Jimmy Sakamoto was blind.

HH: Yes.

TI: So for him to get around, he needed someone to help him, drive him places and bring him to different places. And, and periodically Jimmy Sakamoto would get together with some of the other newspaper people in the city. Not Japanese or Japanese Americans, but from the major newspapers, the Caucasians. Can you tell that story about Jimmy meeting these people?

HH: Yes. Every week, I don't know if it was Friday or, I think it was Friday, they would have a Washington State Press Club would be meeting around where, I think it was the Eagles building or whatever it was, where the convention center is now. They would have a meeting and Jimmy would always attend. And the publishers of the Times, P-I and such, they would all be meeting, but they had a separate room, the back room, where only those publishers will be meeting.

TI: And before you get to that part, what was your role in getting Jimmy to this meeting?

HH: Oh, I was more or less, since I had the car, and on the way home from the office on Fridays, because Friday is the day we had to take the paper to get it printed and also distributed so that the carriers, boys would distribute it around the Jackson Street and downtown area, Japantown area. And then we also had to mail out the ones that we had to mail. So then by that time, Jimmy would be through, and so I would, I had a car and so he would leave to go to the Press Club.

TI: So you had the car, so you would be the one who would drive him to the Press Club?

HH: Yes.

TI: So explain, was this a common thing? Every week you would do this?

HH: Yes. And before we leave, Jimmy would always show me his wallet and he wanted to be sure that whatever money that he was gonna take with him will be in a certain order. So he'll tell me, "This is, first one is a dollar bill," or a five dollar bill or a ten dollar bill, whatever, so I verified that, "Yes, that's it," and then he'll get in the car and I'll drive him to downtown area.

<End Segment 32> - Copyright © 2006 Densho. All Rights Reserved.