<Begin Segment 29>

JS: Okay, so we want to talk about when you returned, when you returned to Fresno.

NM: When I was here in Fresno?

JS: After Japan.

NM: After Japan? I came home, my brother said, "Come to L.A.," I went to L.A., I went to school again a little bit, school like that, like photography, this and that, 'cause he's a photographer. So I learned that a little bit. But my dad passed away, so I went back to Fresno, I worked in Montgomery Ward. I repaired furniture. You know when the shipment come in, something broken, I kind of fix it. Top is scratched, I got to go over it, get that scratch out. Sometimes you got to do, everything real finished, refinish everything. You had to go down to the raw deal. Then Montgomery Ward was good. They were real good to me. I had the shop, I had the spray gun and everything. I didn't know how to use it at first, but there was one hakujin fellow that told me, "You can do it." These scratches, you got to go down to the level, then you got to do everything. So he told me all that. I got by. Then the upholstery, I had a little upholstery training in Fresno, I took a job one, about a half year, then I went to L.A. So that company that I worked for was furniture, the sofa, and then a single, all that, they made, and I watched them. And that's why I started repairing furniture. So Montgomery Ward, I thought I'd repair furniture, retouch this and that, then I learned a lot of things. The burning, the scratches, you know, you can't get it off, but certain way you can do it. Sometimes you got to do it real good. But I did that Montgomery Ward, so I was a furniture repairman.

JS: So your father had died. Your father died when you were in Los Angeles, and then you came back to take care of your mother?

NM: And then I went to Montgomery.

JS: I see, help with the family.

NM: And then I was working ten year, and then they said they're gonna close. Montgomery Ward gonna close up.

JS: So, Nori, can you remember when you first came back to Fresno, what was it like? You hadn't been back to Fresno for a long time.

NM: Well, I liked Fresno, so I got used to it right away. See, and then when I came back, we didn't have a house before. And then we had a hard time, when we came back, my folks, they found a place, renting, this and that, and then finally my neighbor named Murashima, he was a good friend of mine, he built houses, so he built a house for me. And then we stayed there, but I was in Japan yet. And then when I came back, the house was there, and then we stayed there about twenty years, then I bought another home in Fresno, a bigger home. The place I was was pretty bad, getting bad. So I moved out. My sisters, they all live in, two of 'em live in L.A. They said, "Move back to another place." So from where I was, I moved out, and I stayed there about forty-five years now. So my mother and I were, stayed, yeah.

JS: So the rest of your family went to Los Angeles, but just your mother and father were back in Fresno.

NM: Yeah. And then one sister lived in Sanger. She's the one that help me out now. When I want to go someplace, she, I call her. But I don't want to call 'em all the time. So, but they said, "No, that's okay. Call." But I don't call 'em all the time. I take the local bus, you know, free. See, like Monday, I went to bank, just go to bank, and I want to see my friend, Renge, I went to see them. So and then I got back. So I'm doing okay. The bus is free. [Laughs]

JS: When you came back to Fresno after Japan, and then you went back to the Buddhist church to help?

NM: Yeah, I go to Buddhist church.

JS: And when did you start to collect the photos and retain the history? You became interested in Fresno's history.

NM: You mean, the picture?

JS: Yeah.

NM: Well, I had interest in picture before, but my older brother, he gave me an enlarger, good enlarger, so I started making picture there. So I did quite a bit of that. That's why I got a lot of picture.

JS: I see. And then you became sort of like the community historian, everyone comes to you to learn about Fresno.

NM: Yeah, yeah. A lot of pictures, I got some old basketball team when I was kid. I learned basketball. I didn't know basketball at all until I was about seventh, eighth grader. So basketball, I started, I liked the basketball, I played for school.

JS: So what do you think, now, the Fresno church, they built a new building, right, and the church is moving?

NM: Yeah, our church is moving. Well...

JS: How do you feel about that?

NM: It's got to happen, anyway. So you got to do it sometime. I said I'm glad they did it now. I still like the old nani. I don't want it sold like that, but I think they need the money, so I think they might sell it. I don't know. But that's where I would go, and I played, all that. I'm gonna miss it. We had a nice playground there, too. It had swing and slides and all that, I remember. And then there was a softball diamond, tennis court, and all that. So that's where I played. That's where I learned how to drive, church's car. Church had a car, they left it there, and then we get a bunch of kids and they push it, we drive it, and then when we were old enough, when we were fourteen, I got my license. We used to take the reverend to Madera church and all that. So we helped him out a little bit, yeah.

<End Segment 29> - Copyright © 2010 Densho and Preserving California's Japantowns. All Rights Reserved.