<Begin Segment 24>

DG: And so by then, was it, did the war end, by, pretty soon?

MM: Yeah. War ended August, August, datta?

AM: Uh-huh. 1930?

DG: '45.

AM: Two.

DG: '45.

AM: '42.

MM: Yeah, and they were marching up and down the street there. People yelling and screaming.

DG: What were your thoughts?

AM: What?

MM: Glad that it's over.

AM: What? That was a world war.

MM: Glad that it is over. And some people were very nice. They said, "You shouldn't have gone into camp," and stuff like that but some people were nice enough to say.

DG: Talk about...

AI: Excuse me, I was wondering, what was business like, in those first few months after you re-opened?

MM: Oh, oh, Mother told, ano, Billy Tashiro, you know, Billy Tashiro, "You're gonna be swamped." 'Cause we had prewar... she says she couldn't believe it. They opened the store and they were swamped. And she says they had every, so many customer, (they) locked the door. So many customer, lock the door. That's how it was.

DG: The hardware store.

MM: They all wanted prewar things, which is why they came in. They wanted...

DG: Oh, not just for necessity for the household. They wanted it because it was prewar things.

MM: Before, prewar things. And Billy Tashiro says, "I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe what your mother said." I...

DG: You mean hakujins came, too.

MM: Hakujins, every, yeah, any, mostly hakujins then.

AM: Uh-huh.

MM: They wanted fish, fish and tackle stuff, I guess. I don't know. [Laughs] But she says, "I couldn't believe it. But their mother said that," and -- sure enough. We had to lock the doors ever... after allowing a few customers. So... so they wanted Nihon no mono.

<End Segment 24> - Copyright © 1997 Densho. All Rights Reserved.