<Begin Segment 21>

JK: And how has your clientele changed over the years?

PD: Well, more and more people are getting into Asian foods. There's, I guess because they're experiencing the East because of, the Far East because of the wars or whatever, and the soldiers coming back. But also, I guess one of the biggest thing is that TV show called "Iron Chef," so a lot of people are interested in cooking Japanese food, or seeing the Japanese experience of eating the different types of food. So that's been a new thing, too, because they have that, looked like a, I guess cooking shows must be a good thing, a big thing right now.

JK: Do people come into your store and refer to "Iron Chef" and maybe "Yan Can Cook"?

PD: Yeah, it's, some, some of those people say, "Oh, I always watch those cooking shows."

JK: So aside from Japanese food, are there other food items that you, you sell, and that Dobashi's has sold over the years?

PD: There's, the mochi ice cream is something else new, too, so it's something new, but... it's not new, but people haven't tried it yet, but it's quite a, quite a favorite item still, and it's highly perishable.

JK: And how have events like, like Korean War, the Vietnam War affected business, or if they have affected business?

PD: Overall, I think it's just more interested in Asian foods as far as we're concerned, but I don't know about discrimination or anything, but there seems to be a bigger community, there's probably a bigger Korean community in Santa Clara County than the Japanese community now, and the Vietnamese community is probably one of the bigger communities just as, I think as far as the Japanese community, gee, I think it's one of the smaller communities. I think there's more Koreans and Vietnamese here in Santa Clara County than Japanese.

JK: In looking back now, knowing what you know, would you choose to run the business the same way?

PD: Oh, it's hard to say what my experiences are now compared to what it was then, but specialization, probably, you have to scale down or something. Keep, keep things running at an easier level.

JK: And you mentioned some of these earlier, but what have been some of the greatest rewards of having a business in Japantown?

PD: Oh, I think over the years, you met so many nice friends, and lot of people that have been good to the family, but also you also lost a lot of good friends over the years. Being so close is, to a lot of people is a hard thing. Also a good thing, but as they get older, they go bye-bye.

<End Segment 21> - Copyright © 2004 Densho and The Japanese American Museum of San Jose. All Rights Reserved.