Densho Digital Archive - Takeshi Minato Interview (denshovh-mtakeshi-01-0028)

<Begin Segment 28>

RP: What career did you eventually get into, Tak?

TM: Huh?

RP: What career did you pursue when you were back in Los Angeles?

TM: When I came back? Oh, I went into the market business. And I got into the produce, produce, selling fruit and vegetable in the market. I was doing pretty good. I went in with my brother-in-law, my sister's husband.

RP: Chizuko's husband?

TM: Yeah. Chizuko's husband. He was working at a factory. Wasn't doing any good. So I told him, "How about going in partner with me?" And so we went in partner and we did pretty good. In fact, we did so good the butcher had the main lease, lease to the store. But he wouldn't extend our lease. He wanted to take over the produce department right on West Boulevard in L.A., 66th and West Boulevard. So I, we lost that and then I jumped around working at a produce place, a different place. But my brother-in-law was older so he settled down and worked at a produce place, different chain store. And I was just jumping around doing different things. I went into a lighting manufacturing company, making fluorescent lighting. I did that for a while.

RP: You kinda did the same thing as your dad, jumping around.

TM: Yeah, I just couldn't settle down to one thing. And after that... oh, in Cleveland I worked for the post office. [Laughs]

RP: Oh, just like Manzanar.

TM: Yeah.

RP: Did you deliver mail?

TM: Yeah. Then, oh, after, after all that, I was manager for Prudential Insurance. 'Cause I listed my name at a travel, I mean, employment agency. So I guess this manager saw a name, a Japanese name, and he wanted a Japanese agent. So he called up. I mean, he called me up and he asked me if I would like to go into the insurance business. I said, "Well, I've never done any individual selling so I wouldn't know what to do." And... I just did, I did sales in the produce and all that market. But he said, "Well, we train you. We'll see if you, you could do this or not." So, they trained me for a while and that's how I got started in the insurance business. And I was doing life insurance for Prudential. I did that for about nine years. And I... at the time they, they decided to sell auto insurance. Prudential never had auto insurance. And I did real well in, in auto insurance. Life insurance is tough. You got life insurance?

RP: No. Do you want to sell me some?

TM: [Laughs] I don't do it now. Lotta... you, you get these younger people and you say, "You need insurance?" "Oh, I don't need it. I'm not, I'm not dying." [Laughs]

RP: Not yet.

TM: And then Prudential went into auto insurance, homeowner. And I started selling that and I did real well on that. And so I became just an auto insurance salesman, almost twenty years. The last twenty years, that's what I did, yeah. That's, that's the end of my story.