Densho Digital Archive
Densho Visual History Collection
Title: May K. Sasaki Interview
Narrator: May K. Sasaki
Interviewers: Lori Hoshino (primary), Alice Ito (secondary)
Location: Seattle, Washington
Date: October 28, 1997
Densho ID: denshovh-smay-01-0006

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LH: Yeah, well, what'd I like to find out about is going back to your family, what your father and mother did for a living.

MS: Well, since I was born into his already established, what his career was, he was owner of grocery store. He worked for a grocery store in the University District owned by hakujins but after he wanted to branch out on his own, I think he tried doing some in the University District but you didn't get the customers there so he knew he had to go to the Japanese International District.

LH: Now, wasn't that a little unusual for him to be away from the center of the Japanese population?

MS: I think he started there because he had an opportunity from the white owners who he -- and I don't know how he met them -- but all I know is that from pictures of his being with the other owner of the store and everything, this is where he got his training to be in grocery store business, I guess.

LH: So he spoke English fairly well, then.

MS: Yes, yes, that was a wonder to me. He spoke English, and he wrote English very well. He did have some accents but he spoke very well for someone of his age and time.

AI: So he was able to communicate well with the other colleagues and the owner and the customers but you mentioned that he wasn't able to get the customers in the U District. Why was that?

MS: I think it still boils down to there is still a lot of discrimination and, you know, there's no way to explain that. Just that he didn't seem to get the customers that the other stores down the road would get that were owned by Caucasians, so he realized... and then there's a need down in the International District to have a store so I think the two coincided where he opened up that store. And it was quite a well-known store, from what I understand. He had there, other people have come up to me and they, "Oh, Nakamura-san," and "Nakamura Grocery?" And I said, "Yeah," so there are various Nakamuras but at least we were remembered as the grocery Nakamura.

<End Segment 6> - Copyright © 1997 Densho. All Rights Reserved.