Densho Digital Archive - Sumiko Yamauchi Interview (denshovh-ysumiko

<Begin Segment 28>

WP: Do you have anything to add?

KL: I have short ones, they're like what were the names of... well, the first one, actually, I wondered, your father's father came to this country during the gold rush, you said, and he stayed. I wonder what happened to his, to your father's mother. Was she still living when...

SY: She lived in Japan and died. She probably was... I have no idea. I didn't know my great grandfather... no, that would be my grandfather. I didn't know him, because when I did see him, he was sick, and my mother was taking care of him. And I can't remember... all I know is we were, had to be quiet and not go into his room to disturb him. And so even more so, I didn't get to know him because of that.

KL: Where was your parents' flower shop in Los Angeles and what was it called?

SY: It was called... hmm. Country Florist. Country Florist, that's it. It was in the corner, I mean, it was on Los Feliz Boulevard, it's a very busy street. And the reason why is because the bus stopped right in front of our flower shop. And when they were selling newspaper, it was always that corner. It wasn't across the street corner, it was a corner where flower shop was.

KL: Was it close to your house?

SY: We lived in the back.

KL: What was the street address, do you remember? Or the intersection with another major street?

SY: No, I can't remember that. I remember there was a Van de Kamp bakery, store across the street, but that doesn't give you anything. You know what a Van de Kamp is?

KL: I've heard of it as a canning operation, but not as a bakery.

SY: No, Van de Kamp -- yeah, that's right, there is a pork and beans Van de Kamp. Van de Kamp is a bakery owned by, I guess, Swedish or Danish, they used to sell Danish pastries.

KL: You had some neighbors in Los Angeles whose, the father, the husband was arrested by the FBI? What was that family's name?

SY: Takechi, T-A-K-E-C-H-I.

KL: Do you remember the parents or the children's first names?

SY: I know the children. The children was, Harry was the son, Teruko was the next one, T-E-R-U-K-O, and what was the last one? I can't think of that one.

KL: Your father's financial assets were frozen in a bank. When did that occur and how did you find out about it?

SY: When you go to the bank and you can't... well, rumors, too. If it happened to you, it happened to me, if you were Japanese. You'd get on the phone and say, "I can't get no money out of the bank, it's frozen. What about you?" you know, that kind of thing. And then, too, lot of people, if you were eighteen, you could put your asset into the eighteen person's. But if you were underage, you couldn't. And so that was where my mother and father, my oldest sister was sixteen or something like that. So she wasn't, they couldn't put anything into her name. And so this was discussed over phones, too, you know. "Oh, we'll put it in Harry's name because he's eighteen years old." But we didn't have that. And property, too, what are you gonna do with your property?

KL: So did your dad actually lose his bank accounts or was he able to draw...

SY: Oh, no, he got it back when it was unfrozen. But it wasn't unfrozen until after the war.

KL: So it was gone for several years, he couldn't access that.

SY: Well, all during the time they were in camp until '46, I guess. I have no idea when it was unfrozen.

KL: Do you have any idea where his account was, what bank he banked with?

SY: Oh, no.