<Begin Segment 4>

JS: Now, living in Salinas -- this is all before the war --

MN: Yes.

JS: Did you, were your parents in any way active in the Japanese community there?

MN: Yes, very much so.

JS: And what did they do?

MN: They were involved with the Buddhist Church there, uh-huh.

JS: In what capacity?

MN: Oh, probably monetarily.

JS: Okay, were they in organizations there?

MN: I, I believe my mother could have been in the Buddhist women's league, it's called Fujinkai.

JS: Okay, and were they in any way, in any sort of leadership positions within these organizations?

MN: No, I don't think so, because they were so busy with the grocery store that Mother just couldn't get too involved with it. But I remember going to church every Sunday, all ten of us -- or nine of us -- 'cause my, my brother, the eldest brother died in 1929, the year before I was born, so I don't remember my brother at all. But we all, we all had to go to church. I must have been about two years old when I was going to church.

JS: How did you feel about that?

MN: Oh, I loved it.

JS: And why?

MN: Because, to see all my friends, and to get... to see my friends.

JS: Now, did you, your fam-, -- excuse me -- your business was located in kind of like a little Japantown there in Salinas.

MN: Yes, uh-huh. I think it was one block long.

JS: One block long?

MN: Uh-huh.

JS: Do you have any recollections of what it looked like in terms of your grocery store, and what other types of businesses were there?

MN: Well, right on the corner of the grocery store, there was a, a clothing store. Tazumi's had a clothing store, and then next to that was the pharmacy and a pool hall. And then there was a, then our grocery store, and then there was another grocery store right next door to our, the Onitsukas. Onitsukas owned that grocery store.

JS: How did that work out in terms of competition?

MN: Yeah, it was, uh-huh, because the Onitsukas had their own friends, and then we had our own friends, uh-huh.

JS: Oh, I see.

MN: Although Betsy and I were best friends. Betsy Onitsuka and I were very close, all during our school years.

<End Segment 4> - Copyright © 2004 Densho and The Japanese American Museum of San Jose. All Rights Reserved.