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JK: This is an interview with Perry Dobashi, whose family has owned Dobashi Market in San Jose's Japantown since 1912. The interview was conducted by Jeff Kuwano, it is taking place at the Japanese American Museum of San Jose at 535 North Fifth Street, San Jose, California, on October 29, 2004. The interview is part of a project that is titled "Lasting Stories: The Resettlement of San Jose Japantown," and is a collaborative project between the Japanese American Museum of San Jose and the Densho Project of Seattle, Washington. It is funded by the California Civil Liberties Public Education Program.

[Interruption]

JK: Well, thank you, Perry, for contributing to this project and for taking the time to participate in this interview today. Perry, you have a wealth of information to share, so let's begin with some background on, on your family. What prefecture did your family come from in Japan?

PD: My father's side came from the Wakayama-ken and my mother's side came from Hiroshima side, prefecture.

JK: Okay, and when did your grandparents immigrate to the U.S.?

PD: Must have been sometime around pre-1900s, or early 1900s, I'm not sure.

JK: And did they settle in, into the San Jose area immediately?

PD: My father's side, I think they, I'm not sure where they came in or came in, they probably came in from the San Francisco area. And it was my grandfather, I think, he settled maybe in San Francisco for a time being, before his wife came over.

JK: Okay, and your father's side, is that the Dobashi side?

PD: Dobashi side.

JK: One of the main reasons that many Japanese immigrated to the U.S. in the early 1900s was because of economic reasons. What was the financial situation of your grandparents when they left Japan and early on in the U.S.?

PD: My father's side, I guess, I guess he worked enough or had enough money to begin something or borrowed something to start some type of business.

JK: Sure. What did, what did your grandparents do back in Japan? What was their occupation?

PD: I think they came from a family up in Wakayama where they grew tangerines, called mikan in Japan.

JK: Okay. And early on in the U.S.?

PD: I don't know how they got started in their financial ventures here.

JK: Sure. So it sounds like they were fairly well-off when they left Japan. Why did your grandparents leave Japan?

PD: Where?

JK: Why did they leave Japan?

PD: I guess to find a better future in United States.

JK: And what do you think prompted them to settle down in the San Jose area versus San Francisco? It sounds like they went to San Francisco originally where a lot of the immigrants came in, but then down into the San Jose area.

PD: When my grandmother came over here, I think she came over and felt that San Jose was a much safer place to live than the San Francisco area.

JK: And did they know a lot of people that were in the area in already, or did they come over with a lot of friends and family, or was it more...

PD: I'm not sure about that part of it.

JK: What level of education did your grandparents and parents obtain? There's, a lot of the immigrants that had come over during those early days had to forego a lot of educational opportunities. Was that the case with your grandparents?

PD: I think they were mostly country people, so I don't know how much education they did have. But I guess she was able to read. [Laughs]

JK: Oh, they were able to read?

<End Segment 1> - Copyright © 2004 Densho and The Japanese American Museum of San Jose. All Rights Reserved.