<Begin Segment 4>
MN: And then I guess your father, you said, was in the soy sauce business in Los Angeles?
SA: Right, and then he sold that to the Jan-U-Wine Soy Sauce. Very nice gentleman, Korean man by the name of Mr. Hyun. I met him, he was a very nice man.
MN: And then you said after that he went into the newspaper business?
SA: I don't know what sequence, but yes, he did work in the newspaper.
MN: Which newspaper?
SA: Sangyo Nippo. It was right underneath Yamato Hall on Jackson Street in Little Tokyo.
MN: Did your father take you to the Sangyo Nippo office?
SA: Quite often.
MN: What did you get to do there?
SA: Well, just like other kids, play around. But I grew up in that sort of atmosphere, and we'd always go across the street to the little candy store. Shall we go into that?
MN: Yeah, tell us about this candy store.
SA: There was a little man who had like a cigar store, and I'd take my nickels there and get my candy bar. He was actually a lookout. Shall we go into that? Okay. Well, Yamato Hall had a, like a pool hall, and it was hidden, the stage would turn around completely like you see in the movies. And when he would see any police coming, he would ring the bell, and that would warn them and they'd quickly turn that stage around. So it's sort of interesting, that actually occurred.
MN: So this man is sort of the lookout, the man at the candy store.
SA: At the candy store, right.
MN: What was this man like? Was he kind of rough and tumble?
SA: No, he was a very nice man. I imagine him to be sort of tall in those days, I was young. So nice gentleman.
MN: So I guess Yamato Hall didn't get raided that much for the gambling joint?
SA: I have no idea. All I know is that just really interested me when I grew up to hear that.
MN: So, I mean, when you just look at it, Yamato Hall is a theater. Did you go and watch anything there, performances?
SA: On occasion, yes, when they had programs.
MN: What kind of programs did they have?
SA: They had, like, dances, recitals, the different schools.
MN: And can you share with us a little bit about Sangyo Nippo? What kind of newspaper was this?
SA: It was really mainly for farmers. And it was the only daily newspaper that came out (during the) day, so all the farmers could look at the pricing. That was the most unusual part. He would make many trips to Oxnard area to visit the farmers because they were, of course, always soliciting for ads. And that's what I remember a lot.
MN: When he went out to places like Oxnard, was it just a day trip or did he have to stay overnight? Was he away a lot?
SA: No, it was probably just a day trip. Another... he had quite a few people working at the Sangyo Nippo. One was Don Nakajima. Most people (knew) of him, after the war he was in the real estate business. (He may have been a) typesetter, but probably not. In those days they had, did they call it typesetter? Linotype. (He very well may have been a reporter. Harry Honda must remember him.)
MN: There was another fairly famous person in the photo that you showed me of the Sangyo Nippo staff.
SA: Yes, that was his first job, and he was the English editor. He still remembers that paper. (Harry Honda of L.A.)
MN: Now let me ask a little bit about your mother. You said she was also, she was doing midwife work. In addition, did she do any other work?
SA: Well, yes. I think she even worked in a walnut factory where they cracked walnuts by hand. Then ended up, just prior to the war, she would be hemming handkerchiefs, we'd be taking it to Pasadena, you package them by the dozen. Hand rolled is what we call it, hand rolled handkerchiefs, I guess, in those days.
<End Segment 4> - Copyright © 2012 Densho. All Rights Reserved.