<Begin Segment 11>

BF: Okay, well, let's start back, and I wanted to, I wanted to get a couple dates sort of as markers. When, what, do you remember what year it was when your parents left Tule?

TM: It was the fall of '45. We were one of the...

BF: Yeah, late.

TM: Last, late ones. Because Tomoko was born in August so.

BF: Oh.

TM: So she's, you know, the reason. So my father came out a couple of months before the family moved out. So fortunately he ran into this friend and they were able to purchase the house. So the night we came back from Tule, we moved into this new house. Well, I mean our -- old but -- so we were fortunate, we didn't have to go to a temporary site.

BF: Right, 'cause a lot of people did that.

TM: So in that respect, my father kind of, I don't know, had his act together and kinda worked things out.

BF: He sorta had to with six -- [Laughs]

TM: Yeah, that's true.

BF: And then, Suwako was still in Japan then?

TM: Right. She was -- she came back 1947 or 8, something like that.

BF: Okay. So she stayed awhile back. Now before we went to a break, you were, we were talking about the family business and everyone was sort of helping out. What, what sort of things did everyone do? I mean could you describe the various sort of tasks or roles you were all sort of taking on in the business?

TM: Well, you did everything. The enjoyable part to me was to serve the customers because you met a lot of nice people. And, but we did everything. I mean whatever business, it's like running a household. Whatever had to be done, you did. And so we were deprived of our so-called regular, student life. But, in retrospect I don't regret it. Although my father was family man, so Sundays and sometimes we were able to play with friends. But most of the weekends, especially Saturday, and a lot of time Sundays we worked at the business.

BF: And immediately after school you would come back --

TM: Yeah.

BF: So you were, you probably didn't go -- did you go to language school, Japanese language school or anything?

TM: No. I never did. But my older brother went a little bit I think, maybe in Tacoma. But like I told you, in, during the latter part of Tule Lake education, it was part Japanese, part English.

BF: But you didn't go to the "Tip School" as they say around Seattle?

TM: No, no, no.

BF: Because you were working.

TM: Not only that, I don't think it was popular for our age group. By then it was -- very few went. Mostly it was for the people that were recently coming from Japan or some other. But very few of us my age group went. And I think like you were saying, we were all trying to assimilate and probably move away from things Japanese, publicly anyway.

BF: What was it like working with your father? I mean this is the time period, right, where you're starting to help out in the evenings making the fish cakes, the kamaboko and satsumaage. What was he like as a boss? [Laughs]

TM: Well, he was a tough -- he knew what he wanted and he expected discipline and expected us to be totally committed and do a good job. In retrospect, it was probably the best experience for whatever foundation for my life. I think, discipline, and to this day I still forced to clean the sinks, because I always had to do it. So it just, it was, things you learned about running business, treating customers, that you probably don't learn in any school, so, just was good experience.

BF: Did he -- was he someone who would try and impart his philosophies directly, or do you think you just watched what he did?

TM: Yeah. I don't think -- like I said, he had limited education. So I don't think he went, he wasn't the type to lecture, do what, he just, here again -- I observed this in a lot of Issei -- they don't tell you like do it the way I tell you. They kinda say, "Look at what I'm doing." But if you really mess up or screw up, they'll kinda shout at you and say, "You're stupid, you're not doing it right." But I don't think he had the classroom approach where we'll write it down, and repeat after me type of approach. It was more osmosisly I think.

BF: Do you remember, do you have any memories of specific things that he did that you really think influenced you, in how he ran the business, or was a father?

TM: No, like I say he didn't lecture you and say, you, you treated that customer well, or you didn't do it right. I don't think he scored us, or, just common sense, and do what's right type of an attitude I think. And he probably thought that on the long run this wasn't going to be my vocation. I think my mother would have liked one of the children to be a doctor or a lawyer, but typically. And so, he probably thought deep down that if he goes back to Japan, or even if he stayed, he probably felt that we should be doing something, whatever. In those days for the women to become nurses or school teachers, and for the guys to become engineers or lawyers or something, doctors. That was the aspiration for most Isseis. And I think my parents were not much different in that respect. They probably viewed their life okay, but for the next generation there must be something else. I'm sure they felt that way. So they didn't instill in us, "Well, you're gonna take over this business, you better do these things right." I don't think I ever heard that.

BF: 'Cause he didn't really think of building some huge business that would be a legacy. He really was sort of --

TM: I don't think so. In fact, I think he was surprised when the business kept growing. [Laughs]

<End Segment 11> - Copyright © 1999 Densho. All Rights Reserved.