<Begin Segment 6>

RM: Did you ever go over into Little Tokyo area?

JY: Oh, yes, we used to go down there because they were more organized than the Chinese were. And they had parades and Nisei Day and all that, I'd bike down there to see the girls and all that.

RM: What do you remember about Little Tokyo in the 1920s and '30s when you were a kid?

JY: In the late '20s, yeah, we went down there, just to see the parade and all that. Because they have Nisei Week, they really dressed up, had parades. But the Chinese had the Lion Dance and all that, I used to do that when I was young, my teen.

RM: What was that like?

JY: Oh, it was kind of fun, beat the drum and the gong and cymbal and all that.

RM: What was that for?

JY: Just to celebrate New Year's, and the firecrackers and all that. We used to put firecracker in the can and blow it up in the sky. We had a lot of fun as kids.

RM: We've heard a lot of stories about really good Chinese restaurants in Little Tokyo. Did you know of any of those restaurants?

JY: Yes. In fact, we used to, they always had a banquet almost every week, ten, twenty table, and we would go in uninvited with a bunch of boys. At first we were dumb, we sat with the old ladies, and they eat like pigs. We finally learned you sit with the old men, they were so drunk, we ate all the food. [Laughs] We'd go up there with ten, twenty boys, and we said, "Three go here, two go here."

RM: Do you remember what restaurant that was at?

JY: Oh, yeah, Grandview, Tui Far Low and all that, all the restaurants, all the big restaurants.

RM: Do you remember the Far East Cafe?

JY: Oh, yes, Far East came later. They came later. In fact, I knew the owner, we used to go down to the bar when it was up in north Broadway. I'd go there and drink 'til about twelve. My wife and I would go out about eleven o'clock Saturday night, and we'd drink 'til one or two. And then we'd go eat some jook, it's a rice gruel with chicken or beef or pork, and then go home from there.

<End Segment 6> - Copyright © 2015 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.