<Begin Segment 28>

MN: Okay, Harry, when you, you came back first to look for a place, and you went back for your mother. Now, coming back to California, did you take the same Route 66?

HY: No. I came back the other route, through Wyoming and Utah. I don't know what route that was.

MN: And why did you decide to take that route?

HY: Seemed like it was cooler that way, that route, instead of south, going to the south.

MN: So, when you came to the border, did you have any problems, state border?

HY: No, no. No problem. All they asked was fruits and... some kind of fruits, they can't take fruits across the border. No problem.

MN: And what year was this? Was the war already over?

HY: Yeah.

MN: So '45, '46?

HY: Somewhere around there. '46, '47, something...

MN: 'Cause you were in jail for how long? Prison for two years? Did you serve your two years?

HY: Sixteen, sixteen... let's see. I think sixteen months and ten days, something like that.

MN: And the war was already over?

HY: Uh-huh.

MN: When you returned to southern California, where did you end up staying?

HY: 182nd and Western. We rented a home, house.

MN: So when you came back here, was it difficult to find a job?

HY: No, I worked for another Nisei garage. They had a garage in Boyle Heights, S&E Garage, Sam & Eddie Garage. I got a job at S&E Garage.

MN: And I know after that, you were with Morningside Auto with Roy Mori.

HY: Yeah, we worked together at the, Sam & Eddie's Garage. And he opened a shop in Morningside, so I went there.

MN: And then you and your friend opened Y&Y Garage?

HY: Yeah, that's... veteran, yeah. He's a veteran.

MN: And he had no problem with you being a draft resister?

HY: No problem.

MN: And then after that, you became a mechanic with Toyota, a Toyota dealer.

HY: No, from Morningside, I went to West L.A. I worked there, and from there, I went to Toyota.

MN: Now, at that time, Toyotas were just coming into the United States market.

HY: Right, right, right.

MN: Now, tell me what's the difference between American-made cars and Japanese-made cars at that time.

HY: There's no difference. Cars are cars.

MN: The Japanese-made cars were just as good as American-made cars at that time?

HY: It wasn't... I don't think they, not as good as the U.S.-made cars. They had little problems, you know, brake problems and stuff like that. It was mostly four-cylinder cars, they had small cars. Had transmission problems, brake problems. But as time went by, they got better and better and better. I owned one, two, three Toyotas.

MN: Did you have the first car, the Toyopet?

HY: No. Toyopet, no. I didn't have that one. They were all Toyota.

<End Segment 28> - Copyright © 2010 Densho. All Rights Reserved.