<Begin Segment 14>

MN: So after you graduated from Roosevelt, what did you do?

TN: I went to UCLA for a little while but then I dropped out.

MN: Why did you drop out?

TN: I didn't feel like going, I didn't know what I wanted.

MN: So what did you do?

TN: Worked at different jobs. Oh, by that time my father had lost his little import/export business, so I helped him help his cousin, my uncle, garden. And we did gardening in Beverly Hills or West L.A., places where the rich people lived, Benedict Canyon and Bel Air, Brentwood.

MN: And how did you like gardening?

TN: I hated it. You'd be gardening, and those rich people would walk their dogs over there and just crap on the grass while we're gardening. That's very inconsiderate. I hate dogs. They should wear diapers or a cork.

MN: How long did you garden?

TN: I don't know, I don't remember. Couple years, I guess. Then I was sick for a little while, and then I went to work at Robinson's doing stock boy stuff. Move furniture and big rugs around.

MN: So this was the big Robinson's department store in downtown L.A.?

TN: Seventh and Grand. Worked with a lot of different races. One of my buddies was this black guy from Arkansas, and he had never heard of a concentration camp.

MN: What was his reaction when you told him about that?

TN: "Oh."

MN: So what year did you start working with the Rafu Shimpo newspaper?

TN: 1965.

MN: How did you get hired there?

TN: I saw an ad in the Rafu, 'cause my parents took the Rafu. Went for an interview and they hired me.

MN: Who hired you?

TN: Henry Mori.

MN: Was Henry the...

TN: He was the English editor, pretty good guy.

MN: And who was the publisher at the time?

TN: Aki Komai, Akira Komai.

MN: And how would you describe Aki as a publisher?

TN: Pretty good guy. I thought he was pretty fair to his employees. Although the pay wasn't that great, he was pretty generous in other ways, like he would give bonuses, and he did have a pension plan at the time. Not bad.

MN: And Henry Mori, how was he as an editor? Was he strict?

TN: Not really. Not with me, anyway. He'd just joke around a lot.

MN: Who was the Japanese section editor at the time?

TN: I don't remember. Hashida was once, but I don't remember who was before that or after, I don't remember.

MN: So you got hired, and what was your first day like at the Rafu Shimpo?

TN: See, they told me to come in at eight-thirty, I came in at eight-thirty, nobody was there. [Laughs] I don't remember if Henry went on vacation or he just came in late, but nobody else was there. So I was just hanging around waiting until somebody showed up. That was kind of weird.

MN: I don't think things have changed that much.

<End Segment 14> - Copyright © 2011 Densho. All Rights Reserved.