<Begin Segment 14>

[Ed. note: This transcript has been edited by the narrator]

TI: You know, earlier you mentioned, I think, about this time, you took a trip down to Los Angeles.

FT: Yeah, uh-huh.

TI: And one of the things that you found out while you were on that trip, in addition to visiting your friend, was you learned a little bit more about your biological father. I think you met a family friend who told you about this, I think.

FT: (...) When we first lived in Seattle (in a duplex) on Main Street (...), the other family there was a Shimamura or Shimomura. And they had two sons, Wataru and Yutaka, they were both my age. Yutaka was my age -- no, Wataru was my age. And we were very close as kids. And so, when we went (...) to L.A., (decided to) look up Wataru. I found him working in a public market. I don't know why I knew he was working there. I guess I had word that he was. So I found him. (...) He took me (...) to his house on Boyle Heights, and his mother (said), "(...) Your father's looking for you." I said, "My father?" (Said), "(A) Mr. Okamoto has an ad in the Rafu Shimpo asking about you." And I (asked), "What was he doing that for?" And she (said), "Well, it seems (...) he got (a) draft notice from the (Japanese) army and he was looking for (you)." (...) Then she told me that he had a restaurant in (Tokyo) called the Olympic restaurant. That was the first time I heard about that. I thought that Tanabe, (...) my stepfather, was my (...) biological father.

TI: Oh, so this was a pretty big surprise to you then?

FT: Yeah, it was. I was surprised. So, when I went in the occupation --

TI: Well, before we go there, so when you first heard that Okamoto was your biological father, what did you think?

FT: Well, I don't know. Just, so what, type of thing. And I sort of forgot about it, and I never told my mother or anybody.

TI: So was that also the kind of the first time you realized that you were born in Japan?

FT: Yeah.

TI: At this point, you thought you were Nisei, that you were born in the United States.

FT: Yeah, right. First time. Yeah, because I didn't know why I would be getting a draft notice. Yeah, so, when I went into the occupation, I thought, "Hey, yeah, Olympic restaurant." And I had heard about it when I was in MIS Language School. One of my barrack mate (who) lived in Seattle until he graduated high school and (...) went to Japan, graduated (from) Waseda, and (...) came back to the U.S. and was living in L.A. when the war broke out. And he was (...) in the six-month class (at MISLS). They had two classes, six-month and nine-month.

TI: Right, so six-month were for the more advanced students.

FT: Yeah, people that had studied in Japan. But he lived in our barracks. So he would talk about his days (...) in Tokyo, (...). And he kept mentioning Olympic restaurant. (...) It was an American-style restaurant (and a gathering place for Nisei students in Tokyo).

TI: And Frank, I just want to clarify for people watching this, so we've now jumped after the war, occupation, you're in Tokyo and you're hearing about this, so keep going. So you're now, you hear about the Olympic restaurant. And then what happened?

FT: Yeah, he was saying that (...) the Americans, (...) Japanese Americans in Tokyo would gather at that Olympic restaurant, because it was an American-style restaurant. And so, when I got to Tokyo, I remembered (that) and Watson, Wataru's mother talking about it, so I looked him up. I went to the restaurant, and they told me he was (at) the factory (...) in Tsukiji. The main restaurant was on the Ginza.

TI: And before you talk about meeting him, what were you thinking? How did you feel about meeting him? Were you nervous about it or anything?

FT: Oh, I just was more curious than anything else. So I went there, and this guy (at the restaurant) said, "(He's) in the factory in Tsukiji," so he took me there. (When) we got there, he went upstairs and (then) the old man (came) down the steps. I met him for the first time. That factory was a confectionary (plant). They made the cakes and the confectionaries and so on for the restaurant.

TI: But as he came down the stairs and met you for the first time...

FT: Yeah, it was a two-story building.

TI: Do you recall what he said to you?

FT: I guess he said Shin-chan or (something) his name was (Sukenobu). (The character for "nobu" can also be read as "shin"). And so Shinichiro was the firstborn of Nobu, or Shin. (...) He took me home that day to his house, introduced me to his family and we had dinner (...).

TI: Did he ever talk about why he went back to Japan?

FT: No, I didn't (ask). No, all I know is that he and (a) couple of (others) that were in Seattle (at the time) went back with him and they started (...) the restaurant (and the other business, including a confectionary) that's very popular in Tokyo, oh, I can't think of the name. Well anyway, and then the other one (...) started up a restaurant called the White Castle (...). But they all went into business (...) that they learned while they were in the States.

TI: So it sounds like your biological father was quite successful as a restaurateur.

FT: He was doing real well. He had a couple of summer homes, one in Hakone, one in Chiba, (he sold the restaurant to) Kagoshima Bussan, a big (...) company that (supplied) the Japanese railways with their logs, what do they call them. So he had the honorary position of vice president of that company until he died. He had three daughters, Katsumi, Terumi, and Masami. And Masami, the youngest, married a very famous musician, his name was Yamamoto Naozumi, who was the instructor for what's his name... that famous conductor, Ozawa?

TI: Okay, I know who you're talking about.

<End Segment 14> - Copyright © 2008 Densho. All Rights Reserved.