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KL: You started to talk earlier about December 7, 1941, but before you share that, are there other things from before that day that we left out that you wanted to include about your childhood or your family life or San Francisco.

WI: Of course, at that time, my grandparents are very close, and we would get together with them quite often. And because of the fact that they were from Japan, I spoke fluent Japanese. And going to school, I learned to read and write, and unfortunately today, if you asked me to read and write, I'll be a little embarrassed. So the family unity was very close and tight. Of course, being in a Japanese enclave, things like New Year's is big with the Japanese, and so they would do the feast and open house and you visited other homes and friends and whatever. So it was a kind of warm communal feeling. And, of course, after the war, we tried to regain that sort of family and community unity.

Kind of jumping ahead, today, we don't have the migration of the first generation Japanese coming, unlike the Chinese, the Koreans, the Vietnamese. So our Japantown is disappearing. And many of the young Japanese today, they didn't want to stay within the family business. If it was a sushi restaurant, a neighborhood grocery store or something Japanese, fish or cleaners or whatever, because they got educated after the war, got their degree, and went into, like, engineering and pharmacy and doctors, and moved to communities outside of the Japanese American community. So if you go to, like, Little Tokyo today, it's called Little Tokyo, and there's still spotting of Japanese businesses, but basically the property is now being owned by Koreans and Chinese, same with San Francisco, which is such a soft spot for my own little community in San Francisco.

So whenever I go up there, although I've been away since I was nineteen, I still feel like San Francisco's Japantown is my home. But I see the same tendencies where it's kind of heading away from the Japanese ownership. A few years ago, a big Japanese corporation bought a big part of Japantown, the hotel, the Miyako Hotel and whatever. But then they, a few years ago, with the real estate bottoming out, they sold out. And so, of course, the community was a little concerned with the Japanese ownership gone, it's going to be, of course, taken over by other developing companies. And, of course, in San Francisco, the big Beverly Hills company bought that complex. So the city, I mean, the community leaders met with him and says, "I hope that now that you own Japantown, that you will still allow it to maintain the integrity of a Japanese town." They said, "Well, maybe five years or whatever," but eventually Starbucks or McDonalds and all these will start coming in. Of course, the restaurants are now changing from a Japanese sushi restaurant or noodle restaurant to Korean barbecue, you could see the change happening. I sort of digress, where were we? [Laughs]

[Interruption]

KL: Okay, we're back after just a quick break to shift around lighting and stuff, and you were just sharing your memories of Japantown and Little Tokyo and the neighborhood preservation efforts. And that was a response to just my question of any other prewar things you wanted to share. Oh, and I did want to know your grandparents' names, those are your mom's parents? Sorry.

WI: You would have to ask. I do have it on paper.

KL: Okay. But you were gonna share something else.

WI: Oh, yeah. I think one of the real highlights of that era was the 1939 Golden Gate World Exposition in San Francisco. To us back then it was like going to Disneyland for the weekend. And it was between San Francisco and Oakland, you take the Bay Bridge, and about midway you got off and there was Treasure Island. During the war that became sort of a naval camp or whatever, I guess. But in 1939 it was the big World Exposition, and that was such an exciting thing for someone of my age to experience. And there was a lot of scientific breakthroughs at that time, even things like 3-D movies, and it was really fascinating. But if I was older, I would have really appreciated seeing Esther Williams swim. But Johnny Weissmuller was there as one of the aquatic stars. Then they had the pavilions, different pavilions, and of course, like world showcase or Epcot Center in Florida, France, Italy, China and whatever. But, of course, our favorite place to go to is the Japan pavilion, and all of our local Japanese girls would wear kimonos and do the Obon dance, and it was quite a thing. And attending that and seeing the Japanese pavilion, you would have never thought that in two years the two countries would be at such dire straits. But it was amazing to go to that. And then, of course, locally, we would have a lot of our local festivals like cherry blossom festivals and all that. And all the churches, the Japanese churches like the Buddhist church would have their annual bazaar, which was always a fun activity, too. So all this before Disneyland. [Laughs]

<End Segment 5> - Copyright © 2013 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.