<Begin Segment 8>

TI: Yeah, you talked about your father, his ability to speak English and Japanese. Was that common for his generation?

KM: No. Because most of the men that came over just spoke Japanese.

TI: And so did that give your father, like, a different role in the community because of his ability to speak English? Was he ever called in because of his ability to speak English?

KM: No, actually, they didn't call him because they had the Japanese Association, and a lot of 'em went, we could see a lot of people going upstairs to the Japanese Association. And then, of course, the older Niseis were coming in to the picture about that time, too, yeah.

TI: Okay, so they would take care of the spokesperson.

KM: Yeah, right. We got back in before the war, '40, '41. Yeah, the kids had been, the older ones, especially, they were in their twenty, twenty-one already, so legalized, so they could take over anything they wanted then.

JS: The other day you were talking about S.G. Sakamoto?

KM: Yeah.

JS: Can you tell us a little bit about him and his role in Chinatown?

KM: He was the community leader of Chinatown, actually, and he was an insurance agent, and he had an office in, I think, on E Street. And he would... through most of the things that the Chamber of Commerce would be doing, and he was pretty active. And then he opened up a feed store on Ventura, and he was busy there. And he had two daughters, they both owned beauty shops. And when the war broke out, why, for goodwill, I think it was goodwill from the Japanese citizens, he went around and collected money for an ambulance, and we donated an ambulance, care of the Japanese community, to the city.

JS: And what year was that, approximately?

KM: Yeah, about, right after the war.

JS: After the war?

KM: Or... no.

JS: Right before the war.

KM: Right before the war.

JS: Oh, like 1940, '41?

KM: '40, '41, yeah.

JS: Wow. Were there other leaders? He was the main...

KM: He was more the main...

JS: Unofficial mayor of Chinatown?

KM: Official mayor of Chinatown, yeah. [Laughs] Yeah, he was kind of the leader at that time before the war. That and, of course, the church. The church had a lot to do with it, too.

<End Segment 8> - Copyright © 2010 Densho and Preserving California's Japantowns. All Rights Reserved.