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TI: So I want to switch now a little bit more back to the Sprague Hotel, and do you recall any of your neighbors when you were at the Sprague Hotel, like any families?

VI: Yeah, Akutsus lived across the way.

TI: So this is the Jim and Gene Akutsu family?

VI: Yeah.

TI: Okay, so they lived across the street from you?

VI: Yeah, there was a row house and a bunch of other homes up along this alleyway, and that was all Japanese.

TI: Okay, and did you play with the Akutsu boys growing up?

VI: No.

TI: It just kind of, when you mentioned that, it was ironic because I know when I grew up on Beacon Hill, the Akutsus were our neighbors. And so that's why it's kind of interesting that you were neighbors with the Akutsus.

VI: I think they were up there.

TI: Before the war, okay. And who else was some of your neighbors? I think you mentioned Scott Oki's mom, Kim Oki? Wasn't she...

VI: She was in that neighborhood. Now, they had a grocery store one block from us, the Michihiros had. Next door was...

TI: Yeah, don't worry about that, but like the Mamiyas, were they nearby? I know their store was a little further down.

VI: Yeah, Sagamiya was the corner store where all the rice crackers were made, very Japanese-y. Half a block down from there, on the other side, was Uwajimaya, the original Uwajimaya.

TI: Oh, so they... and what year? I always thought of them before the war as more of a Tacoma store. Yeah, they started in Tacoma, Uwajimaya, and then they came to Seattle.

VI: Seattle.

TI: Do you know about when they came? Do you remember that?

VI: No.

TI: And so they were, tell me about that store. What was it like? Was it like a little...

VI: It was small.

TI: Like a little, just a little grocery store kind of thing? Like a corner grocery?

VI: It was in the middle of the street, I mean, in the block.

TI: And were they known for anything in particular?

VI: As far as I know, being so young, it didn't ring a bell.

TI: You weren't too far away from the Nippon Kan. Did you spend much time there?

VI: Well, anytime they had... they had quite a few events there, and then if it was a community thing, Dad would take us down there, it would be there. All the sports events like judo was always there. So that we spent a lot of time, and my sisters used to spend some time there. And that's where the graffiti came in, because they would write their name on the side of the wall.

TI: Yeah, so talk about that graffiti. I mean, for someone younger, they might not quite get what you're talking about. So what...

VI: Graffiti is just signatures, people write on the wall.

TI: Yeah, on the wall kind of behind the stage.

VI: Behind the stage or other side.

TI: I remember because Sara and I got married there, so we spent time there. Might have been you or Auntie Martha or someone, we went back behind there and she showed me the signature.

VI: Auntie Martha did.

TI: Auntie Martha, yeah. So that was cool.

<End Segment 7> - Copyright © 2022 Densho. All Rights Reserved.