<Begin Segment 16>

TI: So I'm going to ask Jill, is there any other things you want about the business?

JS: Maybe about Fresno.

TI: Okay. So tell me about Fresno. You mentioned...

EI: Fresno? Yeah, we have a retail store over there. My younger brother was running it. And we closed the place up as soon as, I think, after ten, fifteen years, we closed up the place. When my brother passed away, two brother passed away, by myself now.

TI: And so your younger brother started this, I think you said it's a retail store?

EI: Yeah, retail.

TI: Retail.

JS: Star Market?

EI: Yeah, supermarket.

TI: How big was Star Market?

EI: Star Market? You know the one we had over here? Market over here, that used to be a supermarket, that kind of big market. We rent the place now.

TI: And then you said for about twelve, fifteen years, the business ran, and then you shut it down afterwards. And I want to get clear, why did you shut it down? Was it because your... yeah, why did you shut...

EI: Why I shut that?

TI: Yeah.

EI: Can't make it go.

TI: Okay, so it's difficult to...

EI: Yeah, yeah.

TI: Now, when you think of yourself, do you think of yourself as a pretty good businessman?

EI: No.

TI: Like when you think about, when you go to a place, like a grocery store, can you tell whether or not it's run well or managed well? Can you see different businesses and say, "Oh, this is a good business?" And, "Maybe this one's not going to make it?" Are you good at looking at that?

EI: Well, yeah, I think about those things, but I couldn't remember much of it. I just keep on going. I got so many business to do.

TI: Now, how involved are you now with your businesses?

EI: Huh?

TI: How involved are you now? Do you still work, do you still look at the business?

EI: Yeah.

TI: And so how much do you do now?

EI: How much work?

TI: Yeah, how much work do you do now?

EI: The boys be doing all the work now. Yeah, I leave it up to them. They keep up the business we start.

TI: Do they ever come to you for advice?

EI: Yeah.

TI: And what kind of advice do they ask?

EI: They want to get all kind of advice. Oh, maybe three time a month, importing-wise, what to do, what not to do. "This is a big mess we're in. What shall we do?"

JS: What do you tell them?

EI: Yeah, unless they tell me. We got big problems, there's a company in San Francisco, lease expired, so we got to find a big place, that place costs several billion dollar to move the warehouse and get the warehouse, I lose more money, no [inaudible] company, bank. So we got to get Sumitomo or something. Still working on.

TI: As you were growing, did you continue a relationship with the Alex Brown Bank?

EI: Huh?

TI: As you kept growing and growing, did you still use Alex Brown Bank as your bank, or did you start using other banks?

EI: Yeah...

JS: When you moved to Sacramento, did Alex Brown help you build new store, or no?

EI: No. They come to me but I thought, "Oh, we'll take care of it over there." Bank of Sumitomo says, "We'll take care."

TI: Okay, so you started using different banks.

EI: Yeah, yeah.

TI: When you decided to use a different bank, did Mr. Brown or his sons ever come talk to you about trying to keep your business?

EI: Uh-uh.

TI: Did they try to talk with you or anything?

EI: No. I think they're worried, too, I guess. But I finished, I paid off everything.

JS: So when did you, and why did you decide to close the store in Walnut Grove? 1950, something like that?

EI: '50. We can't take care, too small.

JS: Too small?

EI: Yeah.

JS: And Walnut Grove, did Walnut Grove change a lot? Was the town of Walnut Grove changing, different?

EI: Yeah, changing.

JS: Yeah, how did it change?

EI: I don't know, nothing doing. When we moved out, everything gone.

JS: Everything was gone. Not too many people anymore?

EI: Yeah. But they're retail, so I sold it to a Japanese owner.

JS: So a new Japanese owner took over the market?

EI: Yeah, my retail shop.

<End Segment 16> - Copyright © 2009 Densho and Preserving California's Japantowns. All Rights Reserved.