<Begin Segment 12>

SF: So, when we were talking, you mentioned these fancy places. So how often did people leave Nihonmachi to go out into the larger area, and to go to a fancy restaurant or to do something?

YM: Isseis not, not too much.

CK: Not too much.

YM: The Niseis --

TS: We went to Triple-X.

YM: Triple-X was like a drive-in theater -- a drive-in...

TS: Hamburger joint.

YM: Hamburger place. And I think it was just prior to the war that we started eating those hamburgers, wasn't it?

TS: Yeah.

CK: Yeah.

YM: I remember Dad going down Pioneer Square, and there was a place down on Pioneer and Main Street, or is it Jackson Street? There was one place that had hamburgers. But not too many like right now, where we'd -- and we never did get much spending money in those days.

TS: Yeah. That's right.

YM: Nickel and dime. If you got that much, we were lucky.

TS: Yeah.

YM: And going down to, my experience, going down to the Lake Washington, go swimming, we'd get a nickel to ride the bus -- I mean, streetcar...

TS: Streetcar.

CK: Streetcar, yeah.

YM: For two cents. Go down to Mount Baker to swim. And you had a, you had a penny to use and, to get candy or so. And then two cents to ride back.

TS: That was a long walk, too.

CK: Yeah.

YM: (Yes).

TS: From the bus down to Mount Baker.

YM: And someone was telling me that they'd lost their money, so they had to walk all the way home.

TS:: Boy, that's a walk.

YM: (Yes). So, but then that, those were the days when that one penny was worth maybe three caramels or candy or something like that.

CK: Yeah. Most of the banquets and things were held right in J Town, or the high tone restaurant was Maneki --

YM: Right.

TS: Yeah.

CK: And then, then they had all these Chinese food places --

YM: Run by Japanese.

CK: Gyokoken, yeah.

TS: Gyokoken, Nikko Low --

CK: Nikko Low --

YM: Kinka Low --

TS: Kinka Low.

CK: Kinka Low, yeah.

SF: But they were, the actual cooking was done by --

TS: Chinese.

CK: Chinese, yeah.

YM: Yeah.

SF: But they were run by Japanese.

CK: Run by Japanese.

SF: Right. So if you had a birthday in the family or something like that, then probably go to --

CK: Probably go there, yeah. One of the places.

YM: Or at wedding receptions they used to have at one of those places, too.

SF: Were there places that you might have wanted to go in Seattle, but couldn't because of discrimination or people didn't treat you, or you didn't feel welcome or something like that?

CK: Not really, I don't think.

YM: I never did feel --

CK: It's just a matter of your getting there.

TS: Well, nobody had cars.

CK: Yeah.

TS: I mean --

YM: Not, very few.

CK: It was either riding on bike or a streetcar.

TS: Yeah.

CK: And then we'd go to Alki Beach, take the streetcar.

TS: Yeah, (or Fauntleroy).

CK: And if we go to the library, we'd take, ride the bike or something like that.

TS: I walked.

YM: Or walk.

CK: Well, yeah.

YM: (Yes), we walked from the store down...

TS: Yeah.

YM: To the library. Of course, we were up, we went up to the library up on 23rd, too.

TS: Oh, did ya?

YM: Uh-huh.

TS: Oh.

CK: Every so often, we'd make a long trip to the locks or to the waterfront, way north on Pier 91.

TS: Oh.

CK: Something like that --

YM: Used to --

CK: On a bike. And that'd be a whole-day trip.

TS: Plus, you had water right close, where you can, right down below by the station, or just south of you.

CK: For what?

TS: I mean, just kind of a big puddle or whatever?

CK: Oh, that was behind KCW, 22 --

TS: Yeah, yeah.

CK: Yeah, yeah. So we'd build rafts and --

TS: Right offa Dearborn. Yeah, we used to make rafts and --

CK: It was on Maynard and Dearborn --

TS: Yeah.

CK: I mean, not Dearborn, but it was actually on Main Street, right behind KCW, see?

TS: Dearborn.

CK: Yeah.

TS: Yeah.

CK: Well, KCW's store was on...

YM: That was a furniture store.

CK: Dearborn.

TS: Yeah.

CK: And so the hole was this place here.

TS: What happened, they just filled that up, huh?

CK: They just filled it up.

TS: Oh.

YM: And was that where...

CK: And there's that Chinese...

YM: The hotel is?

CK: Chinese furniture store is now.

YM: Yeah.

CK: They took over KCW, remember?

YM: Yes.

<End Segment 12> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.