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TI: So after the war ends, your father and sister come to Portland. So where did you find housing for the family?

MN: Well, while I was... I found the housing at the university building. I went over to the housing authority and tried to get FHA loan. For myself, I don't know why I did that, but I thought, "Well, I'll just find out what this was all about, the FHA loan." And everybody, of course, I'm not a veteran or anything like that. I wasn't in the military or anything. But anyway, I did find housing for my father. My sister wrote and said we have to, they have to leave. And so I found housing in the same village there, University Village, and I had everything prepared so when they came out, they had a place, that we had a place to stay. So I got a phone and I got, made all the arrangements, so they were able to come out and stay.

TI: Now when your father returned to Portland, was he able to find work?

MN: We decided, my sister and I... anyway, I decided that he was too old, and he, you know, other than... he wouldn't, he probably could have gone as a gardener or something. But there aren't very many jobs for Issei people in their sixties. And we felt, I felt that I had a job, that we would be okay, and that I didn't want him to get hurt or anything, which would be a catastrophe if he did get hurt. So we just told my dad, I told my dad that, "That's okay." Not that it was our turn, but I think we will get along okay. If he found something, of course, he could go to work if he wanted to. But my poor father, I guess I kind of made him feel real old. [Laughs]

TI: So what did he do with his time? All day, what would he do?

MN: Oh, he made friends with... I think it's an Italian farmer that lived close to the University Village. Because my dad would bring home zucchinis, and he would grow them real large, let them grow 'til they got quite large, and then he would slice them up and we would, he always incorporated my sister and I into a job. And we would peel the zucchinis in rounds and hang them up and make kampyo. See, you probably find that in your cookbooks nowadays about kampyo, my dad... anyway, that's what my dad would do. He would go down and walk down to this farm, and probably made friends with these people. I don't know how or what, I have no idea, but that's what he did. So he would have that, and we would hang it on hangers, and on a string that he had in front of our apartment. And I guess people would walk by and think he was a medicine man.

TI: That's interesting.

MN: But he occupied his time doing this and that. So I was thinking, I don't know... we were both, my sister and I were both away at school all day. And my father, he liked to read, and I'm sure, I think he got the local, maybe, Japanese... they didn't have a newspaper. But he kept busy, one way or the other.

TI: And how about your sister? What did she do?

MN: Well, oh, you mean this was during... after?

TI: After the war?

MN: Well, she went to school and finished her high school. Then she went on to Lewis & Clark College where I worked.

TI: Now, did you help her get into Lewis & Clark?

MN: Well, I knew she was very smart, my sister. And I knew she would make it, and I think she tried to, told her to take the exam, Lewis & Clark college is sort of like, not Reed, but anyway, I told her to go ahead and apply and so forth. And she got a scholarship and she went on through school and graduated there. So I was very glad that she had an opportunity during that time. It was a, I think she had a fun time, I hope she did.

TI: Now, did you ever consider going to college? I mean, you took all the high school college prep and foreign language, did you ever think about going to college?

MN: Well, when I was at Lewis & Clark College, it was mentioned to me by some of my friends. I don't think any of their professors said anything, but about taking a few courses. I can't remember whether my boss mentioned that, but I could have probably taken a couple of courses, they would let me, probably give me time off or whatever. 'Cause they were really, I was sort of spoiled, being, they all, seemed like everybody put two hundred percent in trying to help me along. So everybody was very nice. I'm really grateful for all the wonderful people there. But it was mentioned to me, why don't I take a couple courses, but I figured that after a full day's work and everything, and maybe I was lazy, but I just relaxed at home. And then we had church activities, and Beta Sigma Phi to go to, and other... so I figured I was just going to come home after a full day's work, I could just leave everything, and at work, you could buttonhole everything, file everything away, everything was in place for the next day. And so I just did that. I went home and I figured I'm going to relax. [Laughs]

<End Segment 14> - Copyright © 2014 Densho. All Rights Reserved.