<Begin Segment 10>

SG: And when you graduated, what was your parents, how did they, what's the word, when you graduated college, how did they feel?

GA: Well, I'm sure they were very proud of me. I remember he drove down in a brand new car that wasn't my car. But anyway, I would drive it most of the time, and I'm sure that was one way to show that they were proud of me. But anyway, both of them, both my mother and father left the store to come down to my graduation. They won't do that for anybody else.

SG: So do you remember them saying anything to you that day?

GA: I don't. I don't remember. All I can say is that I'm sure they were proud of me. I was no outstanding student, but at least I got a degree.

SG: And were you able to find a job out of college?

GA: No, no, so I worked in the store.

SG: Do you have any idea why it might have been difficult for you to --

GA: Well, those were the days that Japan was involved in a war with China and there were many so-called atrocities committed by Japanese soldiers in China, so there was a feeling against Japanese even in U.S., in fact all over, so there was a lot of discrimination against Japanese, and a very few Japanese got any good job at that time. I remember one friend, he had graduated from law school here in Portland, but he went, he was not allowed to become a member of the bar. He was not allowed to practice law even though he had graduated from law school because he was Japanese, so he got mad, went back to Japan, went to Japan and got a job in Japan.

SG: Did he ever come back to --

GA: No, never came back. He was a press, he was a correspondent, he was a newspaper man. He became a newspaper man in Japan.

SG: What was going through your mind at this time, Mr. Azumano? You're looking for a job but not being able to find one after you'd gone through all this schooling.

GA: Oh, I don't think I was bitter, and I wasn't really trying to get a job because my father did want me to work in the store because he was, he became ill and he needed someone to manage the store so that was something that I could go back on; therefore, I really didn't look for a job seriously. But had I looked for a job seriously, I'm sure that I would have been discriminated against at that time. This is 1940, '41.

SG: Do you feel any discrimination while you're working at the store at this time?

GA: At the store, I didn't. No, I didn't feel any, same customers used to patronize us and sales were up to snuff in those days.

SG: Did you experience any general discrimination when you're walking down the street or --

GA: In those days, oh, no. No, I didn't feel that. Even though these so-called atrocities were committed by Japanese soldiers in China, I didn't feel that animosity. I don't remember any.

SG: You had mentioned that your father was sick and your family expected you to come back and run the store. Were there any other expectations your parents had for you as the oldest child in the family?

GA: I don't know of any. I don't remember their expressing any particular position that I should try to get into. I don't remember that. I'm sure that he was happy that I would, I would manage his grocery store in his illness although my mother was capable of doing that too. But I don't recall his expressing any particular goal for me.

SG: Do you think they have different idea of how they raised you and your sister being a boy and a girl?

GA: Any what?

SG: Any difference in terms of what they wanted for you or how they raised you versus your sister?

GA: Oh, I'm sure that they wanted me as a man to be successful in life in business, so I don't know what they had, what kind of aspiration they had for my sister. I don't think I ever heard it. I don't remember.

SG: So at this time, you're helping your parents out at the store. Were you married at this time?

GA: No.

<End Segment 10> - Copyright © 2003 Oregon Nikkei Endowment and Densho. All Rights Reserved.