Densho Digital Archive - Minoru Yamaguchi Interview (denshovh-yminoru

<Begin Segment 13>

KL: When you were in night school, were you studying for a degree, or were you studying just English language?

MY: Just to get the high school diploma. I was, that's what I was aiming for. So what I had to do is I had to, I had to write to my high school in Japan and then have them transfer my credential report, and then they, I took it to Japanese embassy, consulate downtown, Little Tokyo, and I had them, I had them convert that over to American level. Then I took that to school office and then they said, "Okay, well, you gotta take English, you gotta take this and this and that. You gotta take history." Okay, so I just stayed with it. But since I decided to go to Chicago, so I kind of left that program, then I went to Chicago, then I came back. By that time my brother George and Bob had the nursery going, so I moved over here. My uncle Hiroshi wanted me to go back to Malibu to work there, but we wanted to have our own business. That was our own goal, to have our own business and be successful. But it didn't work out that way later, though. It was together. But anyway, my uncle was so disappointed. I kind of felt bad about it, but then, but I decided to go with my brother, my two brothers, to have our own business. But...

KL: Where was your nursery?

MY: Pardon?

KL: Where was the nursery that you guys set out?

MY: Right here in Oxnard. There's Ventura, then there's the Santa Clara River, and then on the other side it's Oxnard. So then my brother George did the landscaping, using our own nursery material that we had in our nursery yard, and my brother Bob did the maintenance on the landscaping that my brother George put in, and I was at the retail nursery end of it, waiting on customers and then do all the ordering.

KL: Did you guys, did you grow from seed?

MY: No, we bought those...

KL: Small plants.

MY: Plant materials from wholesalers and then we did the retail, and then bedding plants, ground covers, trees and bushes, and fertilizer and garden supplies. And I kind of watched the retail operation.

KL: And your brothers went to clients' homes and did the installation and the maintenance?

MY: Yeah, my brother just every day loaded up with the plant materials and then went out to the homes or get the orders, do all that with two helpers. And my brother Bob, he kind of did the maintenance. But my sister-in-law did the bookkeeping and the public relations and --

KL: What's her name, your sister-in-law?

MY: My sister-in-law?

KL: Uh-huh.

MY: Her name is Mary.

KL: Do you know her maiden name?

MY: Maiden name is Furuoka, Mary Furuoka. They were from Lodi. And then the family operated together grape, the vineyard in Lodi, today, still today.

KL: Wow. What's its name?

MY: Uh...

KL: That's okay.

MY: The father, Mary's older brother passed away, so his son, Mary's nephew is...

KL: I wondered what the name of the vineyard was.

MY: I don't know.

KL: The Lodi one.

MY: Yeah, I don't know the... but they still --

KL: That's neat that they were able to keep it in their family.

MY: But anyway, so the, back to going to high school, since we're in here, moved to Oxnard, and then I started again going to Oxnard High School. It's a night school. And I stayed with it for about four years, to get all the curriculum done, then I took the G.E.D. test, and then I passed and I got the diploma. Was in, that must be about 1980 or... well, I finished the high school education course, but I didn't even think about getting the diploma, but after four years or so they went ahead and sent that diploma over to me in the mail. Yeah, I didn't have to go over there and get it.

KL: That's a surprise.

MY: Just, 'cause if I was looking for a job or something, it would require the credential, and I would've used it had I ever needed it, but then I had my own business, so I didn't need it. So I just let it go.

KL: Yeah. That's a long road.

MY: Yeah, it took me a long time. And going, after all day's work and going to night school... what bothered me was that learning American history, in the American history was mostly watching the movies, old movies from, "President Truman did this and that," or that and this and that, and you just sit there and watch it, and pretty soon go [pretends to sleep].

KL: Yeah. [Laughs] Especially a day of work.

MY: But pretty important to follow that 'cause sooner or you have to take a test according to that thing, so it was really tough. Yeah, it was really tough. But anyway...

KL: You finished.