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

Support from Nikkei (Japanese)

(Japanese) We the gardeners owe a lot to Nikkei, Nisei, or Issei who helped us with everything. When I saw an Asian person, I assumed he was Nikkei. It was like that. People like them told me a lot of things, like how they struggled in the past and I learned a lot from them. They helped me with all kindness and I’m truly grateful for them.

California generations immigrants immigration Issei Japan Los Angeles migration postwar Shin-Issei United States World War II

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)