Densho Digital Archive
Preserving California's Japantowns Collection
Title: Nori Masuda Interview
Narrator: Nori Masuda
Interviewers: Jill Shiraki (primary); Tom Ikeda (secondary)
Location: Fresno, California
Date: March 10, 2010
Densho ID: denshovh-mnori-01-0001

<Begin Segment 1>

JS: Today is March 10, 2010, and we are in Fresno interviewing Nori Masuda. And I'm Jill Shiraki, this is Tom Ikeda.

NM: Tom.

JS: And behind the camera --

NM: What was your last name?

TI: It's Ikeda.

NM: Ikeda? Oh. Tom Ikeda.

JS: Tom Ikeda, and behind the camera is Dana Hoshide.

NM: I can't hear good.

JS: Okay, I'll speak louder. So can you say your name and when and where you were born?

NM: My name? My name is Nori Masuda, I was born in Fresno, 1916, September 11th.

JS: Okay. Can you tell us about your parents, your father's name --

NM: My parents?

JS: Uh-huh.

NM: Oh. Well, they had a store. We had a bookstore at first, then we had all kinds of candy, fruits and all that. This was in China Alley. This is the picture, China Alley is about -- my dad took over about 1911 or '12, the store. See, my dad's older brother had the store, and he's going back to Japan. And then, so he sold it to my dad. And that's about 1911 or '12, around there.

JS: So when did your father come to the United States? When did your father first come to the United States?

NM: My dad came, I think, around 1888, if I'm not mistaken.

JS: Do you know what he did before he had the bookstore?

NM: Well, he said he worked in, all over. He was in... let's see. He was in Ventura around there, but I think they were taking oranges or lemon or something like that. They came to a farm, working in there. Then they just traveled, ended up in Fresno, I think.

JS: And when did your father and mother, when did your mother come to the United States?

NM: Oh, my mother, I think my dad went back about 1908 or '09. And then I think they got married, and then they came together. It's about 1909 or around there. I don't know for sure about that time.

JS: Can you describe the store? Describe the bookstore, what it was like, where...

NM: Bookstore, we had, and then we also had Japanese omochi. You know, during New Year's time, they had mochitsuki in the back of this, our store. There was a little shack in the back, and my mother and dad used to pound the mochi rice, and then they make mochi. Then for New Year's, we had... what do you call that now? Omochi. God, I'm forgetting...

JS: Ozouni?

NM: Mochi, yeah.

JS: Uh-huh, mochi?

NM: And then right here, we had this counter, we had ice shave, and summertime they had tokoroten like that. Lot of Japanese was coming in from around Reedley and Clovis and all that. So they used to come into town. So every day was kind of busy, yeah. And then they had tokoroten, and then, of course, we had candies and everything. We were selling just about everything, books. And then Japanese comb, you know, toothbrushes, they were all imported from Japan. And then that's why this counter has all Japanese goods. Then out here, later on, they had tokoroten, summertime they had tokoroten, they cook it, and they had, served tokoroten right there.

TI: How about things like Japanese newspapers?

NM: Japanese newspaper?

TI: Yeah, things like news from Japan. Did you have anything like that, or magazines?

JS: Those times, I don't remember those things. 'Cause I was in China Alley only when I was, until about nine, eight, nine years old, then we moved out. And then... but they had Japanese paper, yes.

<End Segment 1> - Copyright © 2010 Densho and Preserving California's Japantowns. All Rights Reserved.