Densho Digital Archive - Bob Santos Interview I (denshovh-sbob

<Begin Segment 15>

TI: And so what was the role of the International Improvement organization, the one that Ken MacDonald started?

BS: That was like a chamber, that was like an overall chamber of commerce. We had the Chinatown Chamber of Commerce, right? And they were just really concerned about Chinese businesses, and then the improvement organization came along, it was like an overall chamber of commerce that were representing not only the Chinese businesses but the Filipino businesses, the Japanese businesses, and the white businesses.

TI: And so was it because the smaller groups weren't working well together, or they didn't have enough clout? What was the, I guess the benefit of having this larger umbrella?

BS: The Chinese chamber of commerce were really just concerned about the Chinese businesses and working with the Chinese family associations and tongs, and a guy named Don Chin was president of the Chinatown Chamber of Commerce. When the improvement association came in, became a, it didn't become an International District chamber of commerce, but more of a business organization that was started by the Japanese, the guys returning. Shigeko Uno was part of that group because she was manager of the Rainier Heat and Power Company. Terry Toda started up his optometry again. Toru Sakahara, attorney. Fuzzy Fujiyama? Fujimoto? Fujiyama?

TI: I can't remember.

BS: He was an insurance guy on Jackson Street. They became involved in this revitalization of the International District. We talked about prostitution. We had cars that would come in, circle Jackson Street down south on Seventh Avenue, west on King Street, and then north on Maynard. These cars would just circle the area, and the streetwalkers would jump into the cars. [Interruption] But that became a highlight for all these young college types and maybe people who were returning from the war to do pickups in the International District area, and it seemed like the police department were looking the other way, so there was a lot of problems that were caused by the, by the streetwalkers and the johns and all that. So this group was there to clean that up.

TI: And when you say this group, what was the group again?

BS: The International...

TI: Okay, Improvement.

BS: They called themselves the International Improvement Club because it started in the '50s. Chinatown was always Chinatown. Japantown, Manilatown, it was always called Chinatown, and the Mayor Clinton at that time coined the phrase, since this is so many different ethnic groups and white establishments and black establishments and Filipinos, that we should call it the "International Settlement." He gave the name of the International District the International Settlement.

TI: This is Mayor Clinton?

BS: This is Mayor Clinton. And a couple years after that there was a promotion that went through the district, the rickshaw races in the International District. The first time we ever saw that term, International District, and that sort of caught on. That was in the early '50s that that happened, the rickshaw races. I don't know if you remember that, but I just remember that term. And it was, I think they were running it, I don't know if you know, Seafair was just opening then, 1951 or so, and each neighborhood was having their own little celebrations. We had carnivals in the International District about that same time. Carnival people would come in and they'd put in the Ferris wheel and merry-go-rounds, and all the streets around the International District were bubbling with all this carnival atmosphere. It was sponsored by the Chinatown Chamber of Commerce, and then that new group saw sort of a revitalization in Chinatown and they wanted that to happen in the other area of the International District outside of Chinatown. So all these businesspeople --

TI: And so what were the motivations of this group? Here you have this white attorney, Ken MacDonald. I understand the motivations of the Chinese businesses --

BS: And the Japanese businesses.

TI: -- Japanese, the Filipino, the African American, but here you have a white attorney doing this. What were the motivations behind that?

BS: You know, I, the motivation to start that, I don't really remember that. I just remember his, I remember a program, and it was sponsored by the International Improvement Association, and they had the board of directors and it was Chin Hong from Four Seas, and Ken MacDonald, and Toru Sakahara, Terry Toda, I don't even know if Moriguchi, Tomio was even involved at that point. It was probably a little bit earlier than him. And their goal was to clean up Chinatown/International District, bring in new lighting, fluorescent lighting, revitalize the restaurant industry. They could, I think they could see that we could become a, quote, "touristy area," a Chinatown, a Japantown touristy area much like San Francisco, much like Los Angeles, and they just saw that it could be a revitalization. And this is the '50s now, right after the war.

TI: Yeah. No, this is fascinating because I, Ken MacDonald is a family friend. My mother-in-law, Casey's grandmother, is Sadie Yamasaki, who was Ken's assistant.

BS: Oh, yeah.

TI: And so there's a strong family connection, and so I never had heard this, so that's why I was curious.

BS: That was, and so then when I saw that, we had a couple of issues in the International District when we wanted to protect the area against the Intermodal Transportation Center. You remember that, at Union Station, right after the Kingdome? We fought that. And the person I went to to get support was Ken MacDonald, and he assigned someone to work with us, but he was involved in that, their law firm was involved, starting to get involved in the land use kind of issues.

TI: Yeah, MacDonald Hoague & Bayless was the, yeah.

BS: So Ken was very helpful even then. But I only went to him because I remember his name as being, as being involved in the revitalization of the community.

TI: Well he's still around. I'm gonna have to go talk to him about this and see what...

BS: I had a good time working with him.

TI: Good.