<Begin Segment 13>

KO: So because your father had such a good reputation with the flower shop, you've been able to keep the same clientele?

RO: Yeah, pretty much. But the dynamics have changed. We went from having a lot of residential accounts to commercial.

KO: And what kind of commercial accounts...

RO: You have a lot of these electronic companies in north San Jose, that Silicon Valley, and when the dot-commers were booming, everybody was spending money left and right. So things were pretty good for about ten years. And after the dot-commers went down, then everything else went with it. So it's been a down, business has been down since 9/11, and the dot-commers.

KO: So who makes all the arrangements that you take orders for?

RO: I'm chief cook and bottle-washer. I buy everything and I make everything and then I tell the driver where to go. It's a simple operation. It's Vi, myself, and a driver, okay, and so we have pretty good control. And then we watch what we do, I don't over-advertise. I know how much business I'm gonna get, pretty much.

KO: So you make every arrangement?

RO: I make everything.

KO: Do you kind of tailor it to your clients' personality, or do they just tell you what they want?

RO: I pretty much watch what I use. I'm kind of a stickler for using fresh flowers. A lot of florists use marginal flowers, that's why they die the next day. Anything I send out will last a while, 'cause I don't use old flowers; I throw it away. So I've always been a stickler for quality, so I always use fresh stuff.

KO: Where do you get your inspiration for the arrangements?

RO: Oh, you can, after a while, you do so many, it's, comes automatically.

KO: Do you think you got some innate talent from your mother or father, or...

RO: Yeah, probably my mother.

KO: Artistic talent? Did she do most of the arrangements?

RO: Yeah, she did most of them.

KO: Did you take classes?

RO: I took a class once, long ago, but I learned through hard knocks.

[Interruption]

KO: Some businesses which were started right after the war in Japantown failed. Do you have any ideas why they did?

RO: I think my parents didn't want to work for someone else, so that was the only thing to do was start your own business.

[Interruption]

<End Segment 13> - Copyright © 2004 Densho and The Japanese American Museum of San Jose. All Rights Reserved.