Interviews

1. First impression of America (Japanese)

2. Permanent residency for 10,000 dollars (Japanese)

3. Longing for a life abroad and getting a chef’s license (Japanese)

4. Life upon arrival (Japanese)

5. Support from Nikkei (Japanese)

6. Tough life at boarding house (Japanese)

7. Business for gays (Japanese)

8. Immigration ship Brazil-maru (Japanese)

Takashio,Akira

Shin Issei – owner of izakaya (Japanese-style tavern) and kappo (small Japanese diner) restaurant, Honda-Ya

Longing for a life abroad and getting a chef’s license (Japanese)

(Japanese) When I was in college, I was working part-time mostly in the food business, like at a bento store. In order to get a chef's license I needed to get approval from the head of the store there and he gave me his signature. With that, I passed the test and got my license. So I had it with me. I got my license simply because I thought I could get on a cargo ship or a cargo-passenger ship for free and cross the ocean, with my license. But that didn’t happen and when I got here, before I started working as a gardener, when I went to Japan Town, I found that there were only two or three Japanese restaurants. And when I told them I had a chef’s license, they freaked out, and they didn’t want to hire me for that reason. They were like, we don’t want someone with skills that high.

California licenses Los Angeles migration United States

Date: August 4, 2015

Location: California, US

Interviewer: Mitsue Watanabe

Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum

Interviewee Bio

In 1969, he arrived in America for the first time. He lived in Los Angeles for a year and a half, traveled to various places around the world for about six months and went back to Japan. As he was deeply inspired by the life in a foreign country, however, he decided to go back and moved to America with a tourist visa. He had a job as a helper for gardeners for about two years at first, and then started working on his own. With an official visa, he got a foot in the restaurant industry. He currently runs a Japanese-style drinking place and diner, Honda-Ya, a restaurant chain in Los Angeles and Orange County, California. (August 2018)