<Begin Segment 16>

MN: Now, when you were there in the 1940s, how many Japanese American families were in Louisiana?

AS: 1945. We were only about five at the time. We ended up, we were more, and as time went on, people in and out. A lot (...) didn't last very long; it wasn't for them. They'd go back to the West Coast.

MN: So there aren't too many Japanese Americans, but yet your house was always filled with Japanese or Japanese Americans. Who were these people?

AS: Because there was no consulate, I would say the consul general would have people come over to visit us. And then also we had a very close friend working for the JETRO, Japan External Trade (Organization), he lived there for about ten years. And we met a lot of representatives, we would call them consuls and vice consuls and their families, because they tried to have a lot of communication with the trades. We met a lot of people. (...)

MN: I'm going to throw some names at you, okay?

AS: Okay.

MN: You share with us who these people are. Tomiko Kanazawa.

AS: Oh, yes. She was from Los Angeles, very famous opera singer, and she happened to come to New Orleans to sing at the municipal auditorium. She sang Madame Butterfly and we were able to go hear her sing. That was in 1948, I think.

MN: You already mentioned this, but the Iimura family?

AS: Yes, he worked for the JETRO.

MN: Did he always come over to your quite often?

AS: Every week. It was a joy to have them. Well, they played Hanafuda, they call it, and then ended up with mah jong. Every Friday night they'd come. They looked forward to it, and my mother would feed them. They loved ochazuke. So it was very interesting.

MN: How about Ishida-san?

AS: Oh, yes. He was the vice-consul, he had two little girls. They came often, too.

MN: There was a kamikaze pilot who also visited.

AS: Yes. All I remember calling him was Yo-chan. He told me that he went all the way to the very bitter end to learn the rites, but when it came for his plane, he took off and decided, "I'm not going to go," and he (flew) to another island. They lost track of him.

MN: Then you had this entire crew of fishing, this fishing crew at your house.

AS: Yes, this company from Hokkaido came to the south to buy a fishing ship (...) from Mississippi. So the captain and the first mate, and pretty soon (all the) officers came to my house (...), our little apartment. They missed Japanese cooking, so they did come. They bought the ship and sailed it back to Japan.

MN: That must have been pretty crowded at your place.

AS: It was. Sat on the floor.

MN: And there was an artist that was going to paint Eisenhower?

AS: Yes. He was on his way to Washington, D.C. and then on to Paris. And he, I don't know how he heard about us, maybe through the paper, I don't know, but he did come and visit us and he was kind enough to give my father a painting, oil painting of Fujisan, which was an unusual one because it was taken from the back side and people just can't recognize it as the famous Mt. Fuji.

[Interruption]

MN: So you were sharing with us about Roku Sugahara.

AS: Roku Sugahara.

MN: Share with us, what was he like and what did he do?

AS: He was my mentor. Lived in Louisiana after the war when his wife decided she didn't like New Orleans and went to New York and lived right near Columbia University. And he decided to stay in New Orleans. He was in the real estate business as well as working for a bookstore. I don't know how he contacted my dad, but anyway, he came to our house every week. Talked to us, ate with us, and he, of course, played cards. But that was the early part, in the early '40s, and he really talked me into going to school, thanks to him.

MN: Now, you're very bilingual, more bilingual than your parents. What was your role when all these people are coming through your house?

AS: Well, my mother couldn't speak English and my father couldn't speak English very well. In order to have all these business contacts, he'd take me along, so I would have to translate for him. And he made a point to make me read the newspaper, because he wanted to know current events, and so I would have to read it and explain it to him. I think that's where I got my interest in reading the paper every day. And he brainwashed all of us, all the girls, "Before you go to sleep at night, you have to read the front page." To this day, we all do.

MN: So how did you feel about being able to meet some very important people, very popular celebrities?

AS: I enjoyed it. I really got my taste of how the other half lives. And we visited beautiful homes, met a lot of prominent people in the city.

MN: Now, when did the Japanese consulate open an office in New Orleans after the war? Do you remember that?

AS: I don't know. I think it's in one of my articles.

MN: Now, when they opened an office, how did it affect your family?

AS: Well, my father passed before they (opened, so) we were there (...) about ten, fifteen years when they didn't have any, consular corps, (...) but it was just on a small scale. But because of that, we had a lot of people probably contacting us.

MN: And then you also organized, or your father organized a banquet for Ambassador Sato.

AS: Oh, yes. (...) We didn't have any Japanese per se, consular corps, so we had a huge party at a huge (seafood restaurant), I remember that, we had seafood. And I just remember seeing the flag, both the Japanese flag and American flag in that restaurant.

MN: Now, all these people were coming in and (...) out of your house, did your mother ever complain about having to cook the meals, clean the house?

AS: She did that all her life. My father just was a very gregarious person, had more people come to our house for as long as can remember, they just dropped in. And, see, I don't know if I mentioned this, but many, many years ago in L.A., people would come 'cause they'd have to make a speech or something, and he would write it for them. Consequently, people just kept coming to our house. Piece of cake for her, she'd just have to entertain them and feed them. (...)

MN: But still a lot of work.

AS: She was good at that. Of course, being in the shrimp business, we had fried shrimp every (time).

<End Segment 16> - Copyright &copy; 2012 Densho. All Rights Reserved.