<Begin Segment 24>

SY: And did you have any anticipation about what life was gonna be like in Cleveland?

YY: Well yeah, we were wondering about that, but it went okay. My wife got a job right away. And I guess they were looking for people 'cause, especially men because they're all getting drafted, so there was a lot of jobs. So I changed, let's see, I started in the machine shop first, then I went to work in an envelope making place, and I ended up making tables and chairs. [Laughs]

SY: Now, it was a separate business from the envelope making?

YY: Yeah, the guy, the people I knew, they said, "Come and work with us." He says, "You make more money, everything is piece work."

SY: You remember how much you got paid?

YY: It depended on the amount of work you did, but I think the most I ever got was seventy-five dollars, for the week.

SY: For the week. So that was pretty good, pretty good money for, for...

YY: Yeah, at that time it was pretty good money. But that was the most I ever got. I remember that.

SY: Normally it wasn't that much.

YY: No.

SY: And where were you living at the time?

YY: We were living, at that time we were living on the east side.

SY: What was the area like on the east side?

YY: Well, it's, I guess it's poor white people. [Laughs] It was average, it wasn't, it was kind of old. The buildings were kind of old. 'Cause my neighbor was, what, she was Polish, and we had an apartment where we had a kitchen and a living room and a bedroom, and the bathroom we had to share with this Polish couple. We had a Polish couple in front. Then she told us, "You don't have to clean it." She says, "I'll clean it." So we never, we never touched the toilet and the bathroom because she was there every day cleaning the place. She was really a person that liked to do cleaning, I guess. A young lady, but she was always cleaning.

SY: Was she an immigrant?

YY: No.

SY: She had lived in...

YY: She grew up in Cleveland, she said.

SY: She grew up there. And she never mentioned anything about you being Japanese?

YY: No. And her husband came maybe about a couple months after we got there, he got discharged from the army or something, and so he came back, so he was there.

SY: Did, as far as you know, did he ever say, did he know anything about the 442nd?

YY: No, I don't know.

SY: He never talked about it, where he served.

YY: No.

SY: But the, this area that you were living in, were you the only Japanese American couple?

YY: No. No, there was Japanese living upstairs and in front and on the side. It was a, let's see, four unit place, and three of us were Japanese, and the one Polish lady.

SY: And you found, so she was the only one who wasn't Japanese in your building.

YY: No.

SY: There were, so you found, how did you find this place?

YY: Some of our friends recommended it, 'cause we were living on the west side, but when our son was born we had to move. So then this, our friend told us about this place being open, so we went and moved in there.

SY: And it was a two bedroom?

YY: No, it was a one bedroom place.

SY: But bigger.

YY: Yeah. And it had a big living room and a bigger kitchen.

SY: And how long were you in, so that's the place you ended up staying until 1947?

YY: Yeah.

SY: And you changed jobs several times?

YY: No, the, yeah, three times and then the third time I stayed 'til the end.

SY: And were your friends all staying there while you were there, or did they, were they slowly leaving?

YY: No, they were still there from before. We left before they did.

SY: So you were one of the first people to move, leave.

YY: I think so. Well, we were one of the earlier ones, anyway.

SY: Was it your intention to come back to the West Coast eventually?

YY: Uh-huh.

SY: That was something you had...

YY: Yeah.

SY: So how did you like living in Cleveland? Was it...

YY: Well, it seemed like it was like a small town. Everything, all the streetcars went to the square, ended up there, so you didn't have to worry about where you were going. [Laughs] And seems like, well, it seemed like it was not like a big city like L.A. Seemed like it's a little small town. So I liked it except for the weather. It was cold.

SY: So, and your wife was happy there?

YY: Yeah.

SY: So after you had your child -- it was a son?

YY: Uh-huh.

SY: Then she had to stay home, she didn't work anymore.

YY: Yeah.

<End Segment 24> - Copyright © 2012 Densho. All Rights Reserved.