Densho Digital Archive - Sumiko Yamauchi Interview (denshovh-ysumiko

<Begin Segment 24>

WP: So you eventually moved back to the West Coast. What year was that?

SY: '49.

WP: And what brought you back there?

SY: Because I didn't like back east.

WP: What didn't you like about it?

SY: I didn't like... I didn't like the weather. I didn't like the... when I finally found a place to live, it was in a ghetto area. And you had to be very careful when you lived there, you didn't go out at night, you didn't come home at night. During the day, you had to be very careful even in the daytime. And it's... when you live in a big city like that, the crime is big. It was more so... when I came to San Diego, there were crimes, but not, and I wasn't living in the best area, but it was a neighborhood, you know, and we got together with neighbors and got to know people and things like this. It was more of a homey thing. But back there, you didn't even know your neighbor if you lived in an apartment.

WP: And so you settled in San Diego when you came back?

SY: I've lived here ever since.

WP: In this neighborhood?

SY: No. I lived in... well, it's called Logan Heights where right now it is not a good area. But my children were raised and graduated from high school from there.

WP: And what made you decide to move here?

SY: Because I was robbed a couple of times in my house, broken in. And he made me.

WP: And why did you choose San Diego of all the places in the West Coast?

SY: Because my mother was gonna come back here, my parents was gonna come back here.

WP: And when did they come back?

SY: They came back in 1950. I came back in '49.

WP: And your sister, was your sister here, too, at the time?

SY: She lived in Chicago, and then she went to Cleveland, and then she came back here first, found a job for my mother and father, and that's the reason why. But I came because my sister was here.

WP: And how did your parents get here?

SY: My brother had graduated high school, they bought a car and drove back here.

WP: Had Seabrook Farms changed since you left?

SY: It's not there anymore.

WP: Or when your parents were still there, did their experiences improve at all?

SY: It has improved living quarters-wise. And no, she said that she liked her job once they got a better living quarter and they could depend on... now they had a car, so they could go to Bridgeton without having to wait for the bus, which makes it a lot of difference. 'Cause you get over there in half hour, whereas on the bus it took you forty-five to an hour.

WP: And what did you do when you came to San Diego?

SY: I got a job here right away.

WP: What was your job?

SY: Hairdresser.

WP: And have you done that...

SY: I did that for twenty-five years. And the lady that I was working for, which was right here, not too far on Broadway here, I worked there for over ten years. And her husband had died, and he owned a nursery, plant nursery, and she was putting it up for sale. So my husband and I bought it, but I was still working for her. But my husband said that he needed somebody to help him at the nursery, but he couldn't pay anybody to do it. So I quit my job as a beauty operator and went to work for over there. And I was in the nursery business for over twenty-five years.

WP: And when did you meet your husband?

SY: When I came to San Diego. The Buddhist church had a dance, yeah, that's it, and I went to it.

WP: And when were you married?

SY: The year after.

WP: And how would, what did your parents do when they came to San Diego?

SY: Well, they had a job working, growing carnations and chrysanthemum, because that's what they were doing before the war, when they were living in San Fernando Valley.

WP: And did they do that later into their life?

SY: Yeah, and then like I said, my mother, she started buying property. And Encinitas was known for growing flowers, and so they went, she bought property and grew flowers until she retired.