Densho Digital Archive - Henry Nishi Interview I (denshovh-nhenry

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RP: Let's talk about your mother a little bit. First of all, what was her name?

HN: Hiro, Hiroko.

RP: Hiroko?

HN: Yeah.

RP: And her maiden name?

HN: Maiden name was Matsuyama.

RP: And where did she, did she come from Japan?

HN: She come from the same, same area.

RP: Wakayama?

HN: Wakayama, yeah. If not the same town or the same neighborhood, I don't remember.

RP: And how did your mom and dad get together?

HN: After... I don't know, I really don't know if he already knew my mother, but after he got here and got established, he called for her to come, come over. They were not married but they got married after they got here.

RP: Did your father know your mother when he was growing up in Japan?

HN: I'm pretty sure he did, yeah.

RP: Kind of met there and...

HN: Yeah, yeah.

RP: Tell me about your mother. Give us a picture of your mom, physically and personality-wise.

HN: Well, she was really, really a hard working, like most mothers at that time, they were really a... but she had, my dad was involved in the nursery business and she was involved in the flower shop, so that it was a full time job.

RP: Did she have any previous, was her schooling...

HN: Other than high school in Japan?

RP: She, she...

HN: No, no, none.

RP: No additional women's college or business?

HN: Yeah.

RP: But she had a flair for business?

HN: I don't think she had any. [Laughs] Yeah, I think most Isseis didn't have any further education than, than high school. 'Cause they all came at a young age, after high school age. I don't know of any that actually, after they got to, to this country, if they went to any further education or not. I would imagine some of 'em did, but I don't know of any. At least I'm not aware of any.

RP: How about your father? What do you remember most about him?

HN: Well, there again, just with a high school education and without any experience in business, to have started a business like which he had, it's pretty amazing actually. But that was not only my dad. It was a lot of other Isseis that came from Japan that, that had to start from, without too much education, other than high school.

RP: How about language, language barrier? Did your parents eventually...

HN: That's what really amazes me. That they didn't speak the language, but I guess once you started some kind of business, which, like my dad had, you, I imagine you picked it up as fast as you could. Because you're dealing with, like if you're in business, you're dealing with, with the American public. 'Course, the people that started business that were in, that had to do with trading with their own people, like in Little Tokyo, then it was probably easier. But if you're out in the American public, then it's pretty amazing that they were able to conduct business. Because in my dad's business, which the clientele was 100 percent Caucasian people, there was no, there was no Japanese clientele. So he had to learn. It seems like he did, with little, little English language, they got by all right.