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RP: Now, you had some early memories about your grandfather having a business.

LK: Yes, that's my maternal grandfather, the Takeuchi part, my mother's maiden name. He had a barber shop at Fourth and Davis in Nihonmachi. And as far as I can remember, he always had that, so when I was a child, we lived in Portland 'til I was about three or four, I think, when they moved out to the country. But we would come in periodically, maybe once a month or so, and my grandfather would give us haircuts and give us money to go to the candy store. And my grandfather and step grandmother had a house on the east side, so we would cross the Steel Bridge, and that used to be really scary because the Steel Bridge has grids, and you could see down below. So I remember that. But also at the barber shop on Fourth and Davis, they had a little apartment in the back where he had a little kitchen and a little bed, because he and his wife, my stepmother, worked many long hours. And so they would go back and eat or take a nap or something when they have no customers. So we would go back in the back room and play in the back room when he was busy. But he had two barber chairs, and the men would come in and get a haircut and a shave, and we got to play around that, too.

RP: Those are special precious moments to have with your grandparents.

LK: I remember my grandfather was a very, he was sort of heavy-set, he was kind of jovial, happy. But the thing I remember most about him was when we lived out on the farm now, when he moved out to Troutdale, he would come on Sundays in a Model T or a Model A, and he's always have something with him. And we'd look forward to having him come out, because he always bought goodies when he came out to see us.

RP: And how long did he have that barber shop?

LK: Well, he went back to Japan, we don't know exactly when, but I think in the middle '30s. Because I think I was about maybe eight, nine, ten years old when he went back to Japan.

RP: And he stayed there the rest of his life?

LK: He stayed there. My mother went back to see him once, to visit him once after we came back from camp. She and her sister and brother went back to visit him. But she would always send him care packages. He loved MJB coffee, and he wanted MJB coffee, I remember that, and she'd always have a care package and the sugar, because he loved his coffee.

<End Segment 2> - Copyright © 2010 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.