<Begin Segment 18>

TI: Going back to the JACL, you mentioned some of the names, I mean, these are names I read about. And I was hoping that you can give me maybe, maybe a fuller description of who these men were and what they were like. You mentioned Saburo Kido?

JK: Yeah.

TI: And what was he like? He was the president.

JK: He was the president, but then I didn't know him too well, except that he was... well, he was like an old Issei individual. He was, I couldn't describe him as anybody... he was a lawyer in San Francisco.

TI: Okay, so let's, if you don't know, that's okay. I just, I'm going to mention names, and if you can tell me something, that's great. If not, don't feel like you have to. How about Joe Masaoka? What was he like?

JK: Well, Joe Masaoka was a self-born leader of people. He put himself in as the leader, and of course, he was probably one of the older Niseis in Salt Lake anyway. And I don't know, other than the fact that he helped his parents operate the market that he had, they had. He didn't, Joe never went to college, and Mike was, Mike and Ike are the only two in the Masaoka family that went to college.

TI: How about, you mentioned earlier, a Dr. Yatabe?

JK: Well, no, I didn't know Dr. Yatabe too well, I knew of him. He was a, I think he was a dentist, but I didn't know too much about him.

TI: You mentioned earlier a George Inagaki?

JK: Yeah, George Inagaki was, well, I really didn't know what he did, except that he, he was working on the staff of the JACL, and he was a contributor to the Pacific Citizen. What he did here, I really don't, I never delved into his activities.

TI: Okay. You mentioned Pacific Citizen, how about Larry Tajiri?

JK: Well, Larry was a real nice fellow. We used to play poker with him all the time, but he was the editor of the Pacific Citizen. And he and Guyo, his wife, they lived together in, well, let's see now. It was by Liberty Park. And he was, he was a very, very easygoing, congenial fellow.

TI: Did you know Fred Tayama?

JK: Fred?

TI: Tayama.

JK: No, I didn't know Fred Tayama.

TI: How about Tokie Slocum?

JK: Oh, well now, he was from Seattle, wasn't he?

TI: He was southern California. He was, I think, part of the...

JK: Yeah, Slocum, I heard quite a bit about him, but I don't recall that there was, other than the fact that he adopted the name of Slocum from, I forget what his name was before that.

TI: Okay, how about Jimmy Sakamoto?

JK: Well, Jimmy Sakamoto was, he had lost the sight of his eyes as a boxer, and he was quite active in the JACL, being... I don't know exactly what Jimmy did.

<End Segment 18> - Copyright ©2008 Densho and the Topaz Museum. All Rights Reserved.