Densho Digital Archive
Densho Visual History Collection
Title: Frances Midori Tashiro Kaji Interview
Narrator: Frances Midori Tashiro Kaji
Interviewers: Tom Ikeda (primary); Martha Nakagawa (secondary)
Location: Torrance, California
Date: September 21, 2009
Densho ID: denshovh-kfrances-01-0020

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TI: So let's go to Los Angeles, back to Los Angeles, and talk about how he had, what it was like, and how he restarted the hospital, the business.

FK: Which part? How far back?

TI: Yeah, so let's start with when you returned to Los Angeles, what was that like for you when you first got back?

FK: Oh, that was another trip. It was July of '45, before VE day, or VJ day, either of those. There was some excitement in the air, thinking, "Oh, now we could plan on going back to L.A." And so we all had this, I don't know how it happened, but we got in the car and drove from Denver through Wyoming, to Salt Lake, and down to St. George and then L.A. Oh, in the meanwhile, my future brother-in-law, Taul, had started making plans to move to L.A. And through my dad's friends, this man named... I forgot his name, Toshiyuki, he used to have, own the Tenshodo Drug Store on First and San Pedro, where the Miyako Hotel used to be. And Mr. Toshiyuki lived in Denver near our home. And he had contacts from years back. There was a time when San Pedro Street going north of where the police parking, building is, used to be Carter Hardware, what's his name... Victor Carter, he was big with City of Hope and also with a lot of property in J-town. And Mr. Toshiyuki knew him from way back, apparently. So somehow or another my future brother-in-law had found out about certain buildings. And I guess that's when they decided to lease at First and San Pedro. And I don't know when he came back to L.A., 'cause Taul had never been to L.A., he was strictly in Seattle, or Portland. Anyhow, I guess my dad knew about it, so I don't know how it happened. It happened so fast, and I wasn't aware of all this. They bought, they signed for this, I guess it was lease they acquired. I think maybe Bruce might know more details, I don't. But we came back -- oh, and we had no home to return to because the house in Gardena was owned by a family friend, a Nisei, 'cause my parents couldn't buy it. And the house on Gardena Boulevard was owned by Bob Matsuishi, he was a Nisei from Hilo. And my father had operated on his appendicitis back before I was born, and I guess those days, we used to try to cross your fingers and hope you'd find an honest Nisei who would sign up for your property. And it worked out fine. Anyhow, so before the war ended, we arranged to sell our house in Gardena. Because if the government found out, they'll take it anyhow. So we had no house to come back to, but somehow or another, I guess Taul or somebody found this house at 446 South Boyle in Boyle Heights. And that was to be our home here in L.A. And I don't whose name that was in, because I wasn't twenty-one yet. But the day I turned twenty-one, I started to sign papers. I was a property owner.

TI: So, Frances, let me recap some of this, 'cause there was a lot there. So it sounded like as soon as people could start coming back to (California), you mentioned your future brother-in-law, Taul Watanabe. And it sounded like he was doing things like leasing buildings so that... what's the right word? So he was, I guess, making investments early on back in Little Tokyo, places like that.

FK: Right.

TI: And at this point, was it, when you say future brother-in-law, was your older sister Sachi dating Taul? Was there a connection at this point?

FK: I guess they were, I wasn't aware of it.

TI: But you, but you knew this man doing all these things, and later on, I guess it became clear when he married your sister.

FK: Yeah.

TI: Okay, good.

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