<Begin Segment 11>

AL: So, Kimi, for when you came over, what was it like for you when you first saw Los Angeles, right, when you... what were some of the big differences that you had to adjust to coming to the U.S. to live?

KO: Who, me?

AL: You.

KO: No, well, it was different from Japan.

AL: In what ways?

KO: I was so glad to be with, you know, after all, we were newlyweds, and we had a baby already. East L.A. we rented apartment, his parent's friend, but they never had children so they check every morning... six units. Six units? Then they live in upstairs, six units, three and three and they live upstairs. Everybody coming, she watches. And then one time vacuum cleaner salesman came, we didn't have anything starting, so we bought the Electrolux. She already told the salesman, "They don't have money, so you don't go there." [Laughs] But he comes anyway but we didn't have any -- she loaned us so we... I was working and we bought it and she said, "You don't have money, you shouldn't bought it."

AL: So where were you working?

KO: I was start working trucking company, freight forwarding company.

AL: So is that how you got into the Teamsters Union?

KO: Yeah, automatically. So automatically he was working to get whole family was covered with insurance. We don't have to pay, we don't have to pay for insurance.

AL: Right, so were you still also working in trucking?

AO: No. I met my friend, Ken Yamaguchi had already had sales and repair of appliance and televisions so I used to, on the weekends, I used to go to his house to visit him. And finally he asked me, he says, "You have the ability to learn," and so I went to work for him. See my first job was 300 a month and he said well, he'll pay me 335 dollars a month.

KO: But most the places, even office is 300 starting. And then first house those days, 10,000.

AL: Wow, when did you buy your first house?

AO: It was 1955.

AL: So that's pretty soon? Just two years after coming?

AO: But the reason why I was able to do that is that Ken Yamaguchi gave me money enough for the down payment, it was 3,000 dollars. So he loaned that to me with no interest.

AL: Was he a friend of yours from camp?

AO: Yes, he was in Manzanar.

AL: Okay.

AO: And he had already known how to make radios so he had a --

AL: Oh, yeah, I think you, yeah, you talked about him in here. I forgot about that.

KO: Then I came six months later?

AO: Yes, later on.

KO: We didn't have money for whole, you know, we had the baby already.

AL: Right so it gave you a little time.

KO: We had to pay for the baby too.

AL: So when he was talking about Ken being in Manzanar, do you remember what Arthur told you about camps? Did he ever tell you he'd been in a camp? What did he tell you about camp life?

KO: In Japan you told me I guess. Yeah, so I knew that.

AL: What did you think about that?

KO: Well, you know, I didn't think about anything. He says Japan was... you know I thought about it after war he's American citizen, that wasn't right.

AL: Did you feel comfortable coming to America considering the war and like how people would accept you or treat you or how you felt about Americans?

KO: Never thought about anything about... all I wanted to be with the whole family together.

AL: Wanted to be with Arthur?

KO: I was in love. [Laughs]

AL: I think you still are.

<End Segment 11> - Copyright &copy; 2010 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.