Oh my father was a typical Issei I would say. Number 1: he was super strict. And yet - that’s only one facet of his personality. But he did care for us, he was a very hard worker and I would say to the end of his life, he was super ethical. And so he had strength of character and he had a very good sense of humor. I used to go, I mean, he was in…was it Taul Building on First and San Pedro? Well, he had an office on a corner on the third floor and a lot of times I would ask him if he wanted me to clean his office, so I would go and clean his office and then children would come and he would be laughing and gushing over them and all this and that and he was really friendly, etc. and he would give them something later on and I would come home and say, “gee momma, how come papa is so nice to kids and he’s always telling us that hmph!” You know, and his favorite word to me was “baka!”
Date: February 3, 2010
Location: California, US
Interviewer: Eiko Masuyama, Carole Fujita, Yoko Nishimura
Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum
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