<Begin Segment 29>

SY: So they, so Sumitomo obviously was pleased with your work.

FO: Evidently.

SY: And then eventually what happened? You became, locally you became a manager, right?

FO: Yeah, I was the first Nisei manager of the Sumitomo Bank. And we opened up in Orange County, Anaheim. Bank of Tokyo was already there, but they were in Santa Ana, so they wanted me to open up a branch there. How do you open up a branch? I don't know. Everything's hit and miss. So I used to go see these strawberry growers, and I used to ask them a lot of stupid questions. That's the only way you learn. Said, "What's the matter with you? Don't you know anything about farming?" I said, "No." So they would get down on the ground and map things out for me. I said, "Oh, yeah, yeah," and the Japanese manager would be listening to us. So I got to know these guys and we developed some good accounts. So they made me open up a branch. So we opened up the branch and that's when Mr. Sakioka came to see me. You know Mr. Sakioka?

SY: I don't know. You have to explain...

FO: Mr. Sakioka is one of the richest Japanese Americans, Japanese farmers. He came to see me. He knew my dad and I knew him because I used to drive around with my dad. And he said, "Omatsu-san, I need a loan." I said, "Okay, what for?" He said he's farming and going to buy some more land. So he says, "I need ten thousand dollars an acre." I says, "Hey, that's too expensive to buy that kind of land." He asked me, "You gonna give it to me or aren't you?" I said, "Well, I have to discuss it with head office." And we turned him down. And he never forgave me for that. Because he bought some acreage, and he sold for half a million, million, and he's got a lot of acreage in South Coast Plaza area. So every time I go see him, he reminds me that I turned him down. But he always, he always greeted me, no matter where or what. When I went to see him, busy as he was, he would come out and take me to another room and we would talk. And I see him at these Japanese functions, I would greet him and he would greet me, and we would talk.

SY: That's great. So even though he didn't ever do business with you then, huh? Wow. So to get an idea, how long were you at Sumitomo, then?

FO: I was there over thirty years. From Anaheim I went to Oxnard and I opened up Oxnard. Now, Oxnard was a different kind of farming. Strawberries and tomatoes were Orange County. Oxnard was celery and other leaf vegetables. And everything was pole tomatoes. Now up north, when I asked our head office for loans, okay, pole tomato farmers... you know what a pole tomato is?

SY: They grow on poles.

FO: Yeah. Up north, they grow tomato for cannery. Go through that thing once it's ripe, then you harvest it and the plant's no good, that season's over. That's what we call cannery tomato for sauces and stuff like that. Pole is for fresh. So I tried to talk to head office about it, and we argued over that. 'Cause they didn't know what pole tomatoes was, so I tried to tell 'em. So they finally gave me an okay. So we got to know a lot of farmers. And I says, "You guys in Oxnard, the Oxnard plain, you guys can get three crops a year out of it," they were telling me. I says, "I don't believe you guys." So I checked, and sure enough, Oxnard was one of the very few areas in the United States that had three crops a year. So I didn't know that.

SY: So you learned a lot about farming.

FO: Yeah, I learned all about farming. I says, "How come the weatherman doesn't say anything about Oxnard?" They said, "I don't know," they tell me. Well, let's look into it. So I looked into it and I sent a letter to one of the TV weathermen. I told him that Oxnard, you can get three crops. There's no place in the United States where you could get three crops. And I says, "How about you giving us a weather report on Oxnard?" So they did, surprisingly. So even today, you hear about temperatures in Oxnard. [Laughs]

SY: You were the first, wow. So your background, though, in farming, your dad going around with these farmers...

FO: Yeah, but I didn't know how to grow.

SY: Yeah, that's true. But developing that business was... would you say it was more important for Sumitomo or was it more important for the farmers?

FO: Both. We helped both. And then every place we went, we opened up, there was a Bukkyokai, a Buddhist church. So we would go in there and say, "We'd like to help your church out. Do you need anything?" Oxnard wanted a piano, Anaheim wanted something, so the bank gave it to them. So that brought in more customers.

SY: I see. So public relations kind of thing. So that was, was that your strong suit?

FO: Yeah, I guess so.

<End Segment 29> - Copyright © 2011 Densho. All Rights Reserved.