Densho Digital Archive - Takashi Hori - Yoshito Mizuta - Elmer Tazuma Interview (denshovh-htakashi

<Begin Segment 47>

DG: Let's finish up with the Hotel Association then. So is it still in existence?

TH: No, longer in existence because what is it? How many hotels are there under Japanese operation today? Maybe Publix is only one.

DG: So in summary has the hotel business been something that you think that has been good for the Japanese, yourselves, Japanese community?

TH: Well, it was something that was necessary.

DG: Okay.

YM: It was our livelihood.

TH: Yeah, livelihood. That's right.

DG: Would you do it again?

TH: Well, today there's other opportunities.

ET: I think most people would rather not.

YM: Before the families got together and run them.

ET: And unless you do most of the work, unless you are able to charge the money you could, you should have. Most of us didn't charge, we didn't know any better. We just, we worked. I mean, we didn't spend any money, which meant we did all the work. Like they told me when I was running the apartment, don't paint the apartment, hire, then I could raise the rent. But if I painted the apartment, I can't raise the rent. I mean, it would be harder. So you see there is a right way and a wrong way. Like I painted windows outside the building 40 feet off the street level, that's foolish. I should have hired somebody and then I raise the rent.

TH: Well, yes. When you're running, it's possible maybe to raise them. But in the days we were running the hotel, I don't think it was possible to raise rents. I mean, things were bad.

ET: Everything started to change about 1975. That's when you don't do the work yourself, you hire out. And in the long run, you come out ahead without breaking your back. Only I didn't wake up.

TH: Well, it was because it was a shortage of housing that came about.

ET: See, I had a property manager and the manager. The manager was always drunk so I did all the work. And the property manager told me to go to Las Vegas, don't come here, but I didn't understand him. If I went to Las Vegas, I'd still have the building.

DG: As a whole as I have observed the owners of the different hotels, all of you are pretty frugal people.

TH: Well, we are Depression era kids.

YM: Everybody was.

DG: Hard worker?

ET: Yeah, we did everything. You name it. We even became almost like doctors. Yeah, we give them medicine, aspirin, maybe.