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TI: So after high school in Japan is when he decides to come to America. Now, when he decided to come, did he know anybody in America?

EY: Oh, he had one friend from Tokyo, and so this fellow became a sponsor for him so that he could be here and stay.

TI: And where was his friend living? Where was he?

EY: Where was he?

TI: Yeah.

EY: I think it's... I don't know for sure, but I think he was involved in clearing land over in Bellevue area, because I heard that he was using dynamite to get the stumps out.

TI: Yeah, because that was kind of the land of stumps.

EY: Yeah, yeah.

TI: And so about... so he came over when he was about eighteen years old. Do you know about what year that was when he came?

EY: Before 1900.

TI: Okay, so late 1800s?

EY: Yeah.

TI: And so tell me, so he now gets to America. Where does he go to find work?

EY: Well, he walked up First Avenue, that was the main thoroughfare.

TI: So First Avenue in Seattle.

EY: Yes.

TI: Okay.

EY: And he... as they walked along First Avenue, he saw a photo shop where they were using sunlight to make prints the old fashioned way. And he said, "Well, I've done that before, so maybe I can get a job here." So he went and he got a job to work at the shop, and then he had a number of opportunity to take some picture of some of the famous people that came along. And one of them was the man that came to the peace treaty between Japan and Russia, and that was someplace, maybe it was (one of the piers in Seattle). But anyway, the famous picture that he took was probably the ambassador that came through the port of Seattle, and he took a picture of that. And so that is something that was famous. But after that, I think...

TI: But before you move on, the owner of the photo studio, was he Japanese or was he...

EY: Caucasian.

TI: Okay. and so do you know why he wanted to hire your father? That's kind of interesting.

EY: Just the fact that he was experienced in that, and probably there wasn't many people available that can do, do that. And so I think it was just a stroke of luck that my father was able to get a job there.

TI: Well, at this point, when your father first came to Seattle, did he speak any English?

EY: I never asked him, but I'm sure that maybe a little bit, but I think it was limited. However, when I look back and say, well, Mr. Hardy hired him and he was partially managerial material. And so I suppose he was able to speak a little bit of English to communicate with the customers. And, of course, Mr. Hardy found him to be a very appropriate hired employee at that moment. Because soon thereafter, the state of Washington, I think it was, had passed the bill that was controlled by the Gentlemen's Agreement.

TI: Okay, so the Gentlemen's Agreement, not the, I thought you were going to talk about the alien land laws, but the Gentlemen's Agreement.

EY: Yeah, that, I think, had an impact. Mr. Hardy, after he, my father started working there, he decided to retire. And when the retirement thing came up...

TI: So before we go there, I want to go back to, just to finish up with the photo studio. It's interesting because I've done quite a few of these interviews, and it's pretty unusual that your father got that kind of job. I mean, most of the Japanese immigrants, the men, they tended to be more laborers in the work crews, especially at the time he came. So that was pretty interesting.

EY: It's kind of amazing to me, too. But at the time, I guess he was pretty dependable, except for maybe one occasion on which he goofed up.

<End Segment 2> - Copyright © 2014 Densho. All Rights Reserved.