<Begin Segment 13>

DG: Seven was "Business licenses."

NS: Well, business licenses were hard to come by in the restricted area, in Seattle area.

DG: But about, what about in Spokane?

NS: In Spokane that I imagine it was possible.

DG: Well, they list it as one of the problems and so was...

NS: Well, could be, certain ones, certain ones might be prejudiced and couldn't get their licenses; but, of course, Paul's being for the state of Washington, Spokane didn't matter. And the Spokane, I think, the Spokane Medical Association accepted his transfer so that he could practice in Spokane.

DG: Number eight was "Finding jobs."

NS: Jobs at wartime were hard to find, but then, depending on the jobs that were available.

DG: But there were more jobs also because of the war.

NS: That's right. Yes, because people needed more help with what they were doing, so there were more jobs; so there were more people coming into the area.

DG: Because a lot of the people in the service had gone and so they need to be replaced.

NS: That's right. Uh-huh. So there were a good many that found jobs.

DG: Why would they list it as a problem?

NS: You mean the jobs were a problem? Probably, because they didn't -- they discriminated against the Japanese and made it a problem rather than the job being a problem.

DG: Because there were plenty of jobs, actually, because all the servicemen were gone.

NS: That's right. And so it depended on the owners whether they would hire Japanese or not, and some of them were above the race question and did hire Japanese.

DG: Were there a lot of women going to work?

NS: Women in Spokane?

DG: Japanese women.

NS: Japanese women? I don't think there were too many.

DG: They mainly stayed home.

NS: I think a lot of them went back east more than they did. They went to Chicago and Philadelphia and New York.

DG: If they were single.

NS: If they were single. Or if they had any skill at all, they went to the Midwest, or some went to Wisconsin and Chicago, Illinois, and Indiana.

<End Segment 13> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.