<Begin Segment 2>

TI: So you go to the St. Francis Hotel, which is right off of Union Square, one of, still one of the most elegant hotels in San Francisco.

CH: Talk about scared. It was in the auditorium of this huge... so I knocked on the door and I heard somebody say come in, so I walked in. And here in this huge auditorium, there were three men sitting at the front row on a suite, and there was a chair in the middle for me to sit. I figure, well, in Japan, they want you to bow, so I thought, well, I'll open the door and bow real low. [Laughs] Like I thought the Japanese would appreciate it, and not just a nod. So I bowed real low for respect. And then I walked up to there and they told me to sit down.

TI: Now at this point were they smiling, or what was their demeanor?

CH: Well, of course, that one fellow I knew. I knew who he was. The other two were older gentlemen.

TI: Now tell me, the one you knew, who was that again? The one you knew?

CH: Omori, Bif Omori. Like I say, he was kind of an overall, took care of the beginnings of trying to get the Japanese program going.

TI: And was he from the San Francisco area?

CH: Uh-huh, uh-huh. He's graduated, I think, University of California.

TI: So he was hired by the Japanese government to help?

CH: Oh, yeah, uh-huh, at the beginning.

TI: And I'm sorry, his first name again was what?

CH: Well, they called him Bif.

TI: Okay, Bif Omori.

CH: I don't know what his... I can't remember what his first name was. I mean, Bif is kind of a nickname, I think. So he was kind of a general, what do you call, getting everything organized from the very beginning. So I knew his sister very well, we graduated business college together, and that's how I got to know him, through him, that this was coming, the job was being offered.

TI: And did Bif encourage you to apply for the position?

CH: Uh-huh.

TI: Okay. So you knew you had sort of a friend in the room.

CH: Friend in the room, yeah. But still in front of two elder... you know how Japanese men are a little more stern.

TI: That's why I wondered how... it'd be pretty uncomfortable for a young woman to walk in there, and I was just curious about it.

CH: It was. I was scared to death. All I knew is I figured, well, as long as I bow and show respect, I guess I'll get by. But anyway, before I sat down, I even bowed again, real low, and then sat down. And then Bif asked me what my name was. See, my parents never did give me a Japanese name, like I said before. So I just said, "Clara Sasaki." And they said, well, you know, "You don't have a Japanese name?" and I said, "No." And then, "Why?" Of course, I have to kind of explain that my parents never gave me one, and thought that we would, you'd be married off, so the two girls in the family never did get a Japanese name. But the boys, they all had Japanese names, keep their name going.

TI: And how long did the interview go? Do you remember how long?

CH: No, I can't remember. I just don't remember too much. I think they asked about my education, my background, if I had any experience in meeting people and things like that, reception work type of thing. That's the kind of thought I was applying for, just a reception type of thing, meeting people, but it ended up, like I say, it ended up more in detail, I had to kind of learn where silk was made. I had no idea.

TI: Well, and when you left the room, what was your sense about getting the job? Did you think the interview went well and that you were probably going to get the job, or what did you think?

CH: Gosh, I can't remember that far back. I don't think so. I mean, I think, I remember there was another girl that I knew that applied for another job, not this particular job, that she applied, and she got it, too. It was just a reception type of thing, and she was in another department of the organization. So she and I got together and compared notes. [Laughs]

<End Segment 2> - Copyright © 2015 Densho. All Rights Reserved.