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MR: Being young as you were, you stayed with your parents 'til the end. How long did your parents stay in camp?

JT: They were there for three and a half years also. We moved back to Portland in 1945.

MR: Did you return to your same home?

JT: No. We had no home here. In fact, my father came home first to see what he could do as far as settling down. What he, when he came back to Portland looking for a job, he worked for the Russian Relief as a common laborer. And then when he was, had raised some money, then he wrote to us and said to prepare to come back.

MR: What is Russian Relief?

JT: That was like a Goodwill. You donate clothing or other articles to the Russian Relief, and they would send it to Russia.

MR: And this was an independent organization?

JT: It was a charitable organization at that time.

MR: So when you came back to Portland, where did you settle?

JT: We initially stayed at the Epworth Methodist Church in Portland which was located Northwest Sixteenth. We stayed there for a few weeks before we moved to Vanport, Oregon. Now Vanport was an area that was flooded later. Fortunately, we had moved out before that.

MR: When you came, was there anyone who helped you settle in?

JT: Not that I can think of, no.

MR: So where did you move to then, in Vanport?

JT: We stayed in Vanport for, oh, a few months, then we moved to the city. Initially, we stayed in the attic of the laundry, Hand Laundry, then we moved to a house right across the street from the Epworth Methodist Church.

MR: Where was the laundry located?

JT: Laundry was on Seventeenth and Northwest Burnside. It was called Independent Hand Laundry.

MR: Your father worked there?

JT: Yes. He and my mother ran the whole business. We had some employees helping, but that was the main source of livelihood.

MR: So it was their business?

JT: Yes.

MR: Okay.

<End Segment 5> - Copyright © 2003 Oregon Nikkei Endowment and Densho. All Rights Reserved.