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BN: And then at that point is when you and... was it a brother or sister who went to...

JK: My sister and I went to... yeah, after the funeral my uncle said, "You manage the store until you get on your feet, I'll take the two older children with me, home with me, and I'll take care of them."

BN: Now the store is...

JK: My mother managed the store. People think she owned it, but it was my uncle and my aunt who opened the Honolulu store as a branch store of the main store in Hilo.

BN: And the store, what was the name of the store?

JK: Hawaii Importing Company. And it was, my mother (who) built it up to be the leading store, dry goods store in the then Territory of Hawaii. She retired in 1952, I believe. Liberty House used to come and check on what she's (selling), Musashiya used to check, they all used to come and check to see what she was ordering and (what) she was selling.

BN: Now was she managing that store before your father passed away?

JK: She worked a little bit in the store but not too much. But she actually co-managed it with Mr. Hino who ran Fashions by Hino later in the Ala Moana Shopping Center when it came out.

BN: So it was really after your father passed away.

JK: That she managed it. Because my uncle wanted to be sure that my mother had a means of supporting her family. So I owe much to my uncle.

BN: So she was really able to fall back a little on...

JK: Yeah, she was a sharp cookie, really sharp and business oriented.

BN: Now, the store, the location of the store was?

JK: The store was located in the Aala Rengo building on North King Street opposite Aala Park.

BN: And that was, do you know when it started there?

JK: It started as the J Fukuda Store, and I know that because I have (their) clothes hangers. And my uncle eventually bought out J Fukuda Store. I don't know the year. But if my mother started working off and on or helping out before 1930, they must have bought it before 1930. My uncle and his wife were very astute business people. My father had all kinds of ideas, but my mother said he was a poor money manager. [Laughs] So she said, "If I were married to him when he was doing all his entrepreneurial work," she said, "you would have been a daughter of a millionaire. But sorry, you're not." [Laughs]

<End Segment 3> - Copyright © 2012 Densho. All Rights Reserved.