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RI: What's really interesting about it, and I talked about this about two or three weeks ago when we had a program at the Japanese community center about Gardena then and now, I didn't know growing up there was five or six Japanese American factions politically in the city, whether you're Ken Nakaoka or Paul Bannai, or Mas Fukai or Tsukaharas or the Kajis or some other groups, you didn't see eye to eye. It's kind of like Japan. Everyone thinks Japanese is one country. Well, Japan is just a group of different tribes fighting each other, and finally Tokugawa Ieyasu won out, and basically that's what happened. And so, in Gardena, we all, from outwardly, we all probably looked, "Oh, these people all get along and that's why they do well." Actually, internally, like a lot of things in life, there was friction, and probably most of it is probably yakimochi, it was jealousy, for whatever reasons. But they were able to contain it, they were able to focus it and try to move forward. And I remember when I ran for city council -- and I was in Washington, D.C., for twenty something years is when I decided to come back -- and I ran for city council, so we had a fundraiser. And my friend pulled me aside and says, "You know, this fundraiser for you, all five factions of the Japanese American community have showed up." They said, "You would have never seen this before under one roof." And I said, "What are you talking about?" And that's when they sat me down and explained to me why certain things happened, why did this happen, how did Paul Bannai become, go into the assembly before Ken Nakaoka, or why this happened. And so it's a very interesting process, and so most people, it still needs to be told and revealed.

TI: So why were all five factions supporting you at that point? I mean, what was it that made you sort of unique or your family unique for that to happen?

RI: They were probably scared I was going to get elected. [Laughs]

TI: [Laughs] So it's that type of thing where once you're there, everyone kind of donates just to get a meeting with you?

RI: No, I think I was gone long enough that they had nothing necessarily against me. My father was active in the community but never drew attention to himself, he just worked hard. And from the standpoint, I think they were all... as you get older, you get less cranky and less desires of settling old differences. And so it was really quite fun to see because even at that time, Mas Fukai was having a little bit of trouble mobility, getting around, but he made a special effort that night to come. And it always amazed me that the Japanese American community, especially the Gardener Association, was able to acquire so much support from that one L.A. County supervisor named Kenny Han. Kenny Han represented the Gardena area, but he would come to -- and you're talking about '58, '59, this is not that much longer after World War II, he would come to the installation. He would install the Gardeners' officers. And I'm thinking to myself, gee, these are my father's friends and all they do is cut lawns, I mean, why is he here? But it taught you a lot about how the Japanese American community was able to gain the respect and support of the political infrastructure or just the community at large. One thing that really made me smile after I got elected in 2001, I went to the Gardena welding shop over on Normandy, and Lou Thorosso, the owner, he's an Italian American, he said, "Sit down." "Yes, Mr. Thorosso." He says, "I want to tell you something." "Yes?" He says, "I saw you at the debates on TV, I thought you were going to win. Okay, so you won, but I'm going to tell you why you really won." He says, "Because your parents and your parents' friends, the Nisei, decided to stay in Gardena. They decided to stay in Gardena and keep this community viable, to keep it clean, to keep it a place that people want to come to. Look around Gardena, it's here. You won, but they're the ones that made you win, not you." And I always take that to heart because, you know, like most communities, after a while, you move out, and very rarely do you ever return. I couldn't wait to get out of Gardena, and so when I had a chance to go to Washington, D.C., I was gone. And I said, "I'll never come back." Well, I'm going to live and die -- I live now and I'll probably die in Gardena. And I can tell you something, I couldn't know a better place to do that, it's been a real nurturing place to live.

TI: Well, and going back to that conversation with the Italian gentleman, how do you see the community in Gardena in the future? Do you see Japanese Americans staying there and were they having a big footprint, having a presence, what's your sense? Because, again, Gardena is unique. In the United States, I can't think of another community that is like that.

RI: Well, it's obviously changing, and the reason it's changing is that probably the way to reverse it is the schools. But the reason it's changing is that we have a greater influx of other Asian Americans, particularly Korean American seniors, Chinese Americans, Vietnamese Americans, and Japanese Americans may come back and raise their children through elementary school, but once it comes to junior high or high school, they would prefer that, they'll try to get transferred to Torrance or some other areas. And it's really a process of schools, and until that's able to be rectified, it will be difficult. Because when I was growing up and we were at Gardena High School, the worst thing you can obviously do in Gardena High was smoke in the boy's bathroom, that was the biggest deal, I mean, you were bad. Today, if you don't bring a gun to school, we think you're great, and there's something wrong with this process. And it's difficult to overcome that. Education and, I don't want to get into it, but I think when we were growing up in the '50s and '60s, we're thankful we had this opportunity. Today, kids say, "I deserve it." Well, I have a different view. You don't deserve it, you've got to earn it, you've got to work for it. But that will get me in a lot of trouble because it's politically incorrect. So, next question. [Laughs]

<End Segment 8> - Copyright © 2019 Densho. All Rights Reserved.