Densho Digital Archive - Kenji Ogawa Interview (denshovh-okenji

<Begin Segment 18>

KL: When did you graduate from high school?

KO: '61.

KL: And what did you do after that?

KO: Well, after start working... I went to Santa Monica City College a little bit. But same thing, I went back, the professor talk about war, I don't like it. So I never go back.

KL: What were you studying at City College?

KO: Commercial art.

KL: And you said you got jobs? What kind of jobs?

KO: I was just doing, helping my dad gardening, landscaping.

KL: And did you work as a landscaper for... were those always your jobs? That was your career?

KO: Yeah, we had it good.

KL: Did you guys have a name for your business?

KO: No, me and my dad. I don't know how we did it, but I guess we were hungry. [Laughs] Big apartment, I don't know how we carried those heavy stuff. Those days, no labor people, fifty, sixty, seventy.

KL: Who were your clients? Were they like in people's homes or businesses?

KO: Just working people.

KL: Around the Sawtelle neighborhood?

KO: It was nice. Then the last one, we helped my friends, you know, Ann Margaret?

KL: What is the name?

KO: Ann Margaret, yeah, the movie actress?

KL: She was nice, real nice. And the husband, Roger Smith, in 77 Sunset? Did you watch that? No? [Laughs] Real nice actor. Big name, you know, Ann Margaret and stuff.

KO: No, that hillside, ten acre house. Well, they're nice, come on, come on, real nice people. They don't act like, hey, I'm a big actor.

KL: How did your dad feel about that business? Did he like it or was he sad about it?

KO: No, he didn't it too much. You know, he's an office worker, he had to do only gardening. I didn't like it. When I was young, I hated it. Said, "Why I have to do this kind of job?" My brother never touched it, dirt.

KL: Yeah, I was gonna ask what your brother's job was.

KO: He hated it. He tried a little bit, "No, I'm not gonna do it."

KL: What did he end up doing with his life?

KO: Engineer. He went to school and then he went to the Air Force.