<Begin Segment 19>

JK: And what, what do think are some of the important factors that led to the family store's longevity in Japantown?

PD: It's just, I guess, the loyalty of the community and the people we knew.

JK: Have you ever considered selling off the store?

PD: Well, it's kind of on sale now, but I don't know when it's going to be sold, so I... it's going on where I'm getting quite a bit older right now, and I don't know how long I'm going to last, so I says, "Well, maybe it's time to, time to seek a sell-off. And my cousin doesn't seem to like, he's not that much... well, he's close to my age, too, so it's, time is near, so, and the younger members of the family are not willing to take it over.

JK: Well, it's had a very long and impressive run. And you mentioned some of the, the shops on the west side, some of the big shops. How do you feel about some of the big shops like you mentioned, stores like Safeway or some of the big chain stores that carry Asian food items?

PD: Well, I think all your stores are catering to the different ends of the population, and that's what America is, I think. It's just a mixture of all the, all the world's... all the world's food. So you can find anything that you... you can find in a Safeway or whatever. And it's just if you're looking for a convenient thing, and whereas our store might offer you the assistance of how to cook this or how to cook that, or how to use anything that's Japanese or, we still offer the wide range of things. But what you find in a Safeway might be, fit your quick needs.

<End Segment 19> - Copyright © 2004 Densho and The Japanese American Museum of San Jose. All Rights Reserved.