<Begin Segment 16>

SY: So you, so from the hotel you went to live on Crocker Street, and you were still in junior high school.

KS: Yeah.

SY: And that was, where exactly was that and what kind of --

KS: Crocker Street?

SY: Yeah.

KS: I mean, Crocker Street's only Third or Fourth Street.

SY: Still kind of on the outskirts of Little Tokyo.

KS: Yes, just on the other side of Fourth Street on Little Tokyo.

SY: And it was a...

KS: It was in a low industrial area, lot of, there was low rent hotels there, couple of hotels there -- some of the Japanese people were living there, I knew them, or got to know them briefly -- and then there were several little individual, individual family homes, run down individual family homes, and we occupied one. I think there was two or three others in that block. Then there was the Los Angeles Aluminum Die-casting Company, which occupied one area there, right next to that house. And I don't remember what was on the other side of the...

SY: So it was more or less a house in the middle of all these buildings.

KS: Right.

SY: And it was a, what, two bedroom, three bedroom?

KS: Let's see, had a laundry room, the kitchenette, bathroom area, and one, two, three, I think it was four bedrooms there.

SY: So that must've been, felt like a mansion, huh?

KS: Felt like a mansion. I mean, it was a lot better than what we had over there, though it was not, the condition, the quality of the building itself was not all that good. I think it was a two story building, so there was another family living downstairs.

SY: And your father managed to afford to move and rent this house? That's basically, that's what he did?

KS: Uh-huh.

SY: And then it gave you more space to --

KS: Gave more space and gave us a more prestigious position. [Laughs] One step above. But he's, he was trying and he was getting, gaining enough mobility and being able to do some stuff. And then he was, I don't know where he acquired the ability to sew and do the kabuki costumes and stuff, but then he used to bang away at that sewing machine, and people would come over and occasionally he would make custom dresses and custom clothing. I remember him measuring for size and all that. And like I said, I don't know where he acquired that, but he used to use that little sewing machine and used to go at it.

SY: That's very --

KS: But that was good for him because he didn't have to stay on his feet all that long, and he was able to do some decent work. I mean, it wasn't high class work, but it was decent work. And for costume, I don't know how much he charged for those things, but they're quite, quite elaborate in certain aspects. But I never asked him how much he makes for those, or how much does he charge for those things.

SY: And did you get to go to the kabuki when they performed?

KS: I used to go down there and I used to help as a sound man, little boy helping with the sound, take the microphones out there, hook up the wires and all that. And the gentleman that used to do the sound equipment, he used to have a barbershop right on Second Street, right off of San Pedro. I used to go get my hair cut there. This is at a later age, but when he was, when I was young he took me in as an apprentice, just kind of help around, keep me busy.

SY: So you got to see some of the shows.

KS: I got to see some kabuki and stuff like that. In fact, I was on some stage shows myself, so... [Laughs]

SY: Wow. And then in the meantime, your mother was doing okay, not...

KS: She was, shall we say, staying out of trouble. [Laughs] I mean, as far as the family stuff was concerned, she was wandering out on other things, but that's another story.

SY: And your, were you still very close to your brother and not so much your --

KS: Well, we lived in the same house. That's about the extent of it. And my brother, he was doing, I had spent some money to get television, radio and television training materials, and they got a little bit over my head and he took on and started ordering the knowledge that I was trying to go after. And so he became an electronics engineer, and in the meantime I was just rooting around trying this and trying that. Worked at the dime store -- we had a dime store down here on First Street -- as a stock boy and that kind of thing, and trying to just make a few bucks. And after I graduated from high school I didn't see any future where I can really start doing something, so I decided I'll join the army, stay there for three years. That way it'll help my parents, not having to support me, and maybe I can help financially a little bit. So I spent almost two years in the army at that time.

<End Segment 16> - Copyright © 2012 Densho. All Rights Reserved.