<Begin Segment 32>

DG: Do you like Seattle? Compared -- you've been all over the world.

MM: Oh, there's no place like home. Although I lived in Tokyo for a while, too. I didn't mind it.

DG: Why do you like Seattle?

MM: 'Cause we were born here. And Seattle's a nice city. And the people who come up from the south, they even say as you get north, the people are friendlier. But it's gonna change, you know. Pretty soon. There's a lot of Californians are moving up here. And then...

AM: Ano, Chinese people are hard to get along with, yo.

MM: Chinese, why, that old, old-style ones, ano, ones that have lived in America for a while, it's okay. But the newly arrived ones, urusai yo. Your grandma and grandpa would be... they did business so they know. Mo konna no mada, "You got some more?" Do you think they go back... Esther, at first, when she came to help us. Brings out the whole dozen to show. I say, "Esther you don't have show, they're all alike." She is shoujiki, you know. Chotto demo mark ga attara, and Chinese no ne, it's imperfect. You notice that, ano, blue and white, blue fish no pattern. Some plate the blue is light, some are dark, and some have brown spots in it. Not perfect. Sono ten, Nihon no ho ga kirei. But you pay more. But people don't understand that. They think that anything from there, it should be cheap.

DG: What do you learn from being in business? Meeting the customers?

MM: That there's all kinds of people. [Laughs]

DG: You talked to me about that.

MM: All kinds. But the majority of them are good.

AM: But you find a new class of Chinese people coming. They are kind of callous. No manners.

MM: You hate to say that, just maybe we see is a few bad ones and we shouldn't say that.

DG: Well, I think that's, like you say, good and bad...

MM: It is a good and bad, uh-huh. And they're very demanding.

AM: Muzukashii yo.

DG: But you've done a good job.

MM: Well, thank you. I don't know if it's really a good job, but we did it because we had to. [Laughs]

DG: That's right. Yeah. We really enjoyed having this conversation.

MM: Well, thank you for having to stand it all. I bet your folks there have lots to say, 'cause they were in business for a while, too.

AI: I think they would say the same thing, that you meet all kinds. I think they would agree with you.

MM: All kinds. On the whole, people are good.

DG: Uh-huh.

MM: But sometimes you meet a sour lemon. But not in the store, usually.

DG: There's a lot of people who quit business because of the sour lemons. And you stay in business. And you keep on...

MM: Well, the majority of them are good.

DG: Right.

MM: People are interesting.

DG: My family was in business, and so I believe in...

AM: But we're seeing a change of people.

DG: Yeah, we have...

MM: Sometimes she says mo akitekuru.

DG: Uh-huh, yeah.

<End Segment 32> - Copyright © 1997 Densho. All Rights Reserved.