<Begin Segment 15>

SG: What kind of work did you do after the, after the floods?

JO: Well, I did carpenter, I was working shipwright then.

SG: What kind of work is that?

JO: Shipwright is carpenter work on a ship. You're more or less making the scaffolding and stuff on the ship. And when they, they was still making the ship, and we built the ship. And they, I remembered maybe about two or three ships, we put it out in Willamette there, and I think two, three ships.

SG: What kind of ships?

JO: It's a regular, at that time, it was a regular shipping ship, not a warship, you know. But that's Oregon shipyard, so that's where they made all the ship during the war.

SG: How did you find your job, Mr. Onchi?

JO: Well, that's when I was in the union, so they called me. When there's opening, they call you for a job. I got along pretty good, just work hard. And we had, there was three of us, Japanese people, and we all got in the same job there, Yamasaki, and, but he's been gone. Seems like all my carpenter are gone that worked with me, and people that worked for me, my company is gone also. Mr. Onishi and Kawamoto, they were all from Gresham there; he's gone.

SG: Did the union treat you pretty well?

JO: They were all Niseis, yeah.

SG: You felt that the union would never discriminated against you or treated you pretty well?

JO: No. I didn't have no problem. When I started a company, I was in Cedar Hills, why, they prefer buying the house that I built because they knew that it was built right. Obviously, there was house built other area, other builders, and I had no problem building. I built quite a few houses in Cedar Hills. A lot of people that worked on our houses, why they said it's well built. They don't have no trouble putting up a sheet rock and stuff. Everything just fits.

SG: When did you start your company?

JO: I was in business for forty-five years and, maybe thirty-five years as my company, and I don't know how many of that is, I couldn't tell you.

SG: And you started that with friends, other Japanese?

JO: No. I started with, well, the one that worked long with most was with like Mr. John Murakami. He'd been with me long time, and then there was another fellow from Gresham there, and then I had two other people, Caucasian people. I had no problem. They all work hard for me, yeah.

<End Segment 15> - Copyright © 2003 Oregon Nikkei Endowment and Densho. All Rights Reserved.