<Begin Segment 14>

KN: Can you talk more about your children and how many children you have and their names?

EK: Well, (...) Marcia... and Elaine lives in Washington. (Gail lives in California, and Joyce lives here in Portland.)

KN: And how many grandchildren do you have?

EK: Three. Three boys.

KN: And no great-grandchildren?

EK: Two, and we're expecting another one.

KN: Can you talk about when you came back, some of the rebuilding experiences? Did you face any discrimination when you came back to Fairview?

EK: No, the only discrimination I had was I told you about that store. Other people were real good to us.

KN: Can you tell us, can you share that experience again about the store? What was the name of the store?

EK: It was the Red and White store. (...) It was a small store and then that was the closest from where I lived. So, of course, first time I needed the grocery when we went back, I walked in, and that's when he said, "No Japs allowed. We don't trade to Japs. Get out of here."

KN: Where would you go for food and groceries?

EK: Well, then I went up to Carl Zimmerman. There was, Parkrose there was an Austrian, I don't know what you call it, but he had a grocery store and he was good to us, too. You know, we had to have, what do you call those, tickets, you know what it is? What was it? For meat and... well, he sometimes said, "Emi, come over, we have butter for you." [Laughs] He'd have it underneath the shelf, and he was good to us.

KN: When you came back to Fairview, was there a Japanese community that was reestablished?

EK: No. Later they just started to come in, but no, there was nobody there at that time.

KN: Were you one of the first people that came back from Minidoka to the area, or were there other people?

EK: Yeah, we were about the first ones. There were several that moved into Gresham, but not in Fairview.

KN: Did you see any of your friends from Minidoka stay in Idaho, or did they all leave and come back to...

EK: No, not all of them came back. A lot of them went back east and got jobs or went to school.

KN: Do you know why that was that they didn't want to come back?

EK: Well, I don't know the reason.

KN: Why did you want to come back?

EK: Well, one thing, like I said, I'd like to come back to the old stomping ground, I guess you'd call it. [Laughs]

KN: What about coming back? Did you, did you feel like you missed anything or had things changed that you wished you would have been a part of, or did your Caucasian friends, did some, like, have babies or get married?

EK: No, not much.

KN: What about Nihonmachi? Can you tell me about how things had changed in downtown Portland and Nihonmachi?

EK: Well, one thing I noticed is Japanese town, there was a great big community, that's all gone. And there was that big Chinatown, and a lot of the Chinese had taken over, I noticed.

KN: So where would Japanese get together for community then after the war?

EK: Well, you know, there's a lot of restaurants there, and people would get together there and have meetings and anniversaries.

KN: Did you still have any fears coming back after the war?

EK: No.

<End Segment 14> - Copyright © 2014 Oregon Nikkei Endowment and Densho. All Rights Reserved.