<Begin Segment 21>

AI: And what have been the greatest rewards of having a business in Japantown?

DT: Well, I think one thing is independence. You had your own independence. Another thing, we had the fellowship of merchants, and then we had the -- I wouldn't say friendship -- but the people who came in, both Japanese American and non-Japanese Americans, they helped to make life most interesting.

AI: And what have been the greatest difficulties of having a business in Japantown?

DT: Well, when you say difficulty, like in any business, there's a time to make it profitable, especially with competition being so keen, and with big shopping centers. But at the same time, we offered something that the big shopping centers didn't have.

AI: Looking back, knowing what you do now, would you choose to run the same kind of business in Japantown, or would you do something different?

DT: That's pretty hard to say. We took life as it came, and we did the best we can, and now, as we look back, it's hard to say what we would have done. But we... did the best we can, we could, with the experience and the ability and talent that we had. But it would be difficult to say what you would do again.

AI: What do you think the future holds for Japantown businesses?

DT: Well, that is a big question. When you say "Japantown business," you're talking about San Jose, I'm sure.

AI: Yes.

DT: Right now, it's changing the guards. All the Niseis are now starting to retire, and the, whether the Sanseis would like to carry on, we don't know. It's a big question mark right now. If you notice, you look around Japantown now, and look at all the new buildings going up, all the new housing. And if they could harness some of that... of course, things are rather bleak right now for the economy, but who knows? If that starts to fill up and they need services, we get people coming from many of those apartment houses that they're building right now. But right now, it's kind of an iffy situation right now. We'll see what happens.

AI: You mentioned earlier that your daughter, Arlene, has taken over the store management. Was this always an expectation that your children would carry on the family business?

DT: Well, I wouldn't call it expectation, but it naturally fell that way, you see, because Arlene became active in the store, and she learned how to manage -- in fact, many of the things she does, she does better than I do, yeah. And the newsletters she writes, and the schedules that she makes, I think she does very well. So I give her a lot of credit.

AI: So she'll carry on the business and the family name.

DT: Yeah.

AI: And how did life change for you as compared to the initial resettlement era? Any difference?

DT: That is hard to say. I mean, "initial resettlement era," era. Now, I don't know what you're trying to...

AI: Well, when you were a startup --

DT: Yeah?

AI: -- in '48, versus now.

DT: Well, first of all, we were very young, you see. Not even in our forties, so we tried to meet the challenges and do the best we can. And now, at our age, why, we're looking back, we're just happy that we had the privilege of living life to the hilt. And I think we are very grateful for all the things that have happened.

AI: Dave, is there anything else about your life or your business that you would like to share that I did not ask you?

DT: Well, you've asked a lot of questions, and all I can say is that, in a nutshell, I personally am very grateful for all the things that have happened in life, the good and the bad. Losing a son, the earthquake in San Francisco, the evacuation. The test is how to meet the challenges that come up, and we were given guidance to make our way. And not perfect, but I think we enjoyed life to the hilt.

AI: Well, thank you. That concludes this interview, and we thank you, Dave Tatsuno, for sharing your colorful life and the history of the Nichibei Bussan department store. You're now a chapter in the museum's visual history project, "Lasting Stories: The Resettlement of San Jose's Japantown." The story you narrated will help to teach future generations about the Japanese American experience. It's been a pleasure interviewing you. Thank you.

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