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RO: Yeah, I have an older sister, and she had very distinct tastes. And so there was an expectation that I wear hand-me-down, and I hated it. So I prefer to just wear t-shirts and jeans and pants. I'd rather wear my brother's, two years older, his clothes versus my sister's. And to this day, I like tailored things. But wow, our family circumstances were such that I'm supposed to help out in that way. It didn't matter what. If it's my junior high school graduation or party, dance, or some special occasion, my mother would stay up all night and make certain that I have a new dress. In fact, when I was Miss Emerald Ball, my mother made me a glamorous, wonderful, regal dress, and that was my first date with my husband. I saw him running around playing basketball, and he actually came across a dance floor to ask me to dance. So when I needed a good-looking, tall armpiece to go to the Emerald Ball, I asked him, and he escorted me. One hitch is that I had my hair in the style of the day, which was a beehive, and here comes Tommy driving a Jaguar roadster with the top down, and there was no way we'd get to the ball. [Laughs] Yeah, we just had a birthday party for Tommy, and one of my high school girlfriends said she was in my bedroom peeking, watching this date, and I come back, marching back into my bedroom to get a scarf, and she let out a screech, she was busted. But from that first day, we've been married since 1963. And to the extent that I've been able to do a lot of good things in my life, both in the community and in my work, it's because I've had a very supportive and helpful spouse, Tom Ochi.

MN: I do have to say, Tom, not a lot of husbands would "allow" their wives to go out of the house. I'm talking about your generation, because you came of age before the women's liberation movement. And it's very, very unusual how you and Tommy have had this arrangement.

RO: Well, I think it's because Tom has high self-esteem. You know, when he was growing up, he's smart, good-looking, athletic, held office. And so I'll tell you a story. When I said that I was gonna go to law school, some people heard about it, and one of Tommy's friends called him and said, "You're not gonna let Rose go to law school are you?" Tom said, "Why?" And he says, "Well, maybe she's not smart enough." And Tom says, "Oh, don't worry about that." Then they said, "Well, how would that make you look?" And Tommy said, "Don't worry about that." But, you know, he's a partner. He doesn't see me as a competitor, I don't take anything away, and we were each other's best friend.

MN: Now, going back to the Emerald Ball, can you tell me what the Emerald Ball is?

RO: Oh, Emerald Ball is the East L.A. chapter's queens contest for the Nisei Week. I didn't want to run for Nisei Week, but my mother wanted me to do that because then there would be a trip to Japan, and she had not been to Japan. I did not win. I think the princesses don't marry doctors. Many of the queens marry doctors, the princesses sort of pursue their own ambition and pursue it. But I did get a chance after I became a schoolteacher to send my mama to Japan.

<End Segment 10> - Copyright © 2010 Densho. All Rights Reserved.