<Begin Segment 12>

MK: What was your first house like when you got to Portland?

RM: Well, it was like "Is this an American house?" I don't remember what it looked like. It was in that resort area. What was the name? I cannot remember. Over the mountain ridge. What was it? It is still well-known. Cannot remember. The house was there, and I thought it was different in the States. From Japan. I don't remember. That's how I felt. Cooking pots and a kettle looked somewhat similar, but they did look a bit strange.

MK: Did you have a hard time with western style restrooms?

RM: Huh?

MK: Restroom.

RM: Not really. We learned how on the ship. We also received some instruction about customs in Yokohama before we took off. We had a class to learn those things. Restrooms were not a problem for me.

MK: How did you like sleeping in a bed instead of futon mattress?

RM: I thought it was better. Yes. We have to fold and put away futon mattress every day, don't we? We can just change sheets on a bed. I thought that was easier.

MK: Didn't you think that it was a waste of room space?

RM: It wasn't a big house, but we had two bedrooms. We lived with a friend. We came to stay with him.

MK: Was it in the Northwest?

RM: Huh?

MK: Was it in Northwest in Portland?

RM: Davis Street or somewhere around in that neighborhood. It is very different now. A lot of small houses were lined up, and our next door neighbors were white. Our downstairs neighbors were also white, and a Japanese family lived next to that. A lot of Japanese people lived there when I came over.

MK: How about Chinese people?

RM: I'm not sure. There were Chinese restaurants, and we ordered food on special occasions. It was delicious. I think Chinese people lived in the downtown area.

MK: Do you remember the address?

RM: No, I don't. 12 Davis, I guess. That where we lived.

MK: You moved to an apartment later, didn't you?

RM: Yes, yes.

MK: Was your first baby born when you were still living on Davis?

RM: Well, I think so. We had a midwife, and she came over to check on me. I had the baby at her house and stayed there for about a week. We went home after we recovered. She constantly had two or three Japanese babies to take care of.

MK: You were helping each other.

RM: Yes. That's how it worked.

MK: Did your husband work at a sawmill in Portland?

RM: No, he was working as a cook then.

MK: What was the name of the restaurant?

RM: It was something like Henry Taylor.

MK: Was it an American restaurant?

RM: Yes, yes.

MK: He got sick after that.

RM: Yes, we were still living on the east side then.

MK: Did you move to the east side from Davis?

RM: Yes, that's where we lived then.

MK: Was your husband always working as a cook?

RM: Yes, yes. He was, he was.

MK: Did he get sick after you moved to the east, southeast?

RM: Yes. He was still working as a cook.

MK: He quit his job as a cook and started to work at a sawmill after he got sick.

RM: Yes, he worked at a sawmill.

MK: Did you live in the southeast while he was working at the sawmill?

RM: No, no. The sawmill provided us with housing.

MK: Did you live at the sawmill with the entire family with the children?

RM: Yes, yes. That's what we did.

MK: Where is the sawmill?

RM: It was in Linnton. That's the sawmill he was working for.

MK: For how many years did he work there?

RM: Well, not for a long time. We moved to a town because it was physically tough to work at the sawmill. We offered to buy the apartment we lived in. We bought it and live there for a while.

MK: Were Japanese people able to purchase houses?

RM: Yes. Many people bought a house.

MK: When did you buy the house?

RM: I'm not sure.

MK: Who was born around the year?

RM: Well, maybe around when Nami was born.

MK: It was in 1936.

RM: Was it? Yes, that might have been around the time. The building was demolished because something like a big factory was being built. It is where the apartment building was replaced by the Saint Vincent Hospital. I read a newspaper article about it the other day, but that is where it was. We moved to east side on Third Avenue. The building is still there. It's past Morrison Bridge, and I heard it turned into a store. We lived there for a long time. It was more like a cheap hotel than an apartment building.

MK: Did you buy the entire big building?

RM: No, we were leasing it. Yes, yes. The war broke off when we lived there. We rented it out and moved to Idaho.

MK: How many rooms, apartments did you have in the building?

RM: Well, I'm not sure how many. We didn't have that many.

MK: You were able to rent it out?

RM: Yes, yes. That was our business.

MK: Did you rent it to white people?

RM: Yes, yes, we did. Japanese people had houses and their own businesses. Everyone was doing well back then.

MK: Did Japanese people live there too?

RM: No, no. But some people came after the war because they didn't have a place to live. They lived there for a while.

<End Segment 12> - Copyright © 2003 Oregon Nikkei Endowment and Densho. All Rights Reserved.