<Begin Segment 4>

MN: Let me ask you about this article that appeared in a Japanese business magazine, and it was saying that the Japanese corporations like Kajima were getting involved in Little Tokyo because they wanted to showcase it. How, how did the community learn about this and what was the reaction to this article?

Mo N: Well, somebody was, had been monitoring the Japanese newspapers. And this one newspaper in particular that people watched because it talked about overseas news and all that, Nihon Keizai Times. And so when that came out, we caught it, and we put it out in the community, these suckers were coming in, want to take us over. Well, a lot of the older Nisei guys, we're talking about, "Oh, don't worry about that shit, it don't mean nothing." Said, "Why not?" "Well, in fifty, a hundred years, this place will revert back to us anyhow. They won't want us or need us anymore." What the hell kind of thinking is that? But yeah, there was this real split in the community or at least for those of us who are active here, there are those who wanted money. In fact, Kango, as the first redevelopment guy here, took the Kajima guy, or took the CRA guy back to Japan to meet the Kajima big shots, or to sell 'em on the idea of having them come down here and build this hotel instead of the Hiroshima Kenjinkai or the local people. So every time we turned around, they're selling us out to the highest bidder. We also knew what the city wanted, too. The city wanted Chinatown, La Brea Street, the Placita and Little Tokyo to be tourist spots, kind of... what they call that? Places of interest. Where you come down to Los Angeles and you could do business with everything, city, county, state, federal, all in one place. And then you had to go coast, right, Figueroa, had to been built up by that, and then Bunker Hill, so you had all the financial districts, all of that stuff all in one place, and first class hotels, stuff like that. So if people came down here to stay, then within almost walking distance, cruise down to Chinatown, cruise to the Placita, come down to J-town, so that's what they wanted. We were dead set against that. We wanted something that benefited our people, not just businesspeople. So there was always kind of the idea of Little Tokyo having two sections.

[Interruption]

Mo N: Okay. One of the things that some of us pitched from the youth community was the fact that our understanding was Little Tokyo was a working class community from day one, and all the business here were to service those workers that lived down here and for other people that come from other parts of the city, come down to J-town and shop. So it was mainly for the community. Wasn't no tourist bullshit. And so if they wanted a tourist trap, and we realized that, some of us realized we couldn't do nothing about it anyhow. So what we opted for a separate working class area down here in J-town out toward the river, out to where Nishi's at right now, around through there. So when they took over White King, we started licking our chops, it was a beautiful working class section right down there. But yeah, split this sucker. Let the businesspeople have First and San Pedro. If they're willing to sell their soul out for that sucker, then let 'em sell it. We wanted a place where we would have low-cost reasonable housing for working people, especially young people, senior citizens, and we wanted to put up a hospital, medical facility that was both east and western medicine, bring all of that together, and have a budokan down there. Not this thing that Bill is talking about, we don't need no basketball. Some people do, that's okay, but what we want is something for us -- martial arts and sustain our culture. We ain't worried about that, they can go to school and learn all that other stuff. So, yeah, we had, at least some of us had this kind of design and things that we wanted to build out there that serviced our people. We wanted a reasonable, like a motel or something like that down there where people were coming in from out of town, just drive in and get a place to stay right in J-town instead of paying that ridiculous money up there. Even that... what's that one on First Street, that hotel? That sucker's expensive, too.

MN: You talking about Miyako?

Mo N: Yeah. But anyhow, so there are other views on how the development should have, could have went.

MN: But you know, I'm wondering from the very beginning, was there talk about attracting corporate businesses or was it the two tiered, corporate business and affordable housing? I mean, at the very beginning of the redevelopment discussions, what was it focused on? When did it become divided?

Mo N: It was attracting big business. But they knew that it wouldn't fly because the young people were doing all the legwork and we weren't gonna go for that. And so... that's the reason why the housing got done first. And as soon as the housing got done, check what happened. We just got sold right down the drain. We did all the legwork and then they kicked us out. Once they got established, then they went straight after the money.

MN: So when it became obvious that redevelopment was focusing on more corporate money, is that when the Little Tokyo Anti-Eviction Task Force was formed?

Mo N: Uh-huh, at the very beginning, we were the Little Tokyo Redevelopment Task Force. And then we realized that we got snookered, and then we switched our name and started taking positions against what they were trying to do.

MN: And then from there, that became the Little Tokyo People's Rights organization, is that right?

Mo N: Right.

MN: And then did a lot of those people then eventually become NCRR, National Coalition for Redress and Reparations?

Mo N: [Nods]

MN: But by this time, when it became LTPRO, you had left the movement --

Mo N: Not the movement, I left...

MN: You left the redevelopment, I meant the redevelopment.

Mo N: Well, the organized section. I was part of a revolutionary organization, so I was working as a representative of the Revolutionary Organization in the community. And I got fired from the Revolutionary Organization but I was still a community person who lived out here.

<End Segment 4> - Copyright &copy; 2012 Densho. All Rights Reserved.