May 14, 2008
I just finished my interview with Mary Hamano. Mary doesn’t drive, so Dana and I picked her up this morning. She lives in Tamai Towers, which is located in the center of Sakura Square (Denver’s Japantown). The interview lasted a full three hours and afterwards, Mary showed us photos of Amache and a collection of wooden pins that the Issei men made in camp. Born in San Gabriel and raised in Los Angeles, Mary had fascinating prewar stories of her childhood and memories of LA’s Japantown. Luckily the weather today is sunny and warm, so Dana and I were able to walk around Sakura Square after taking Mary back home. We went shopping in Pacific Mercantile (the Uwajimaya of Denver)…I couldn’t resist all the Hello Kitty merchandise and ended up buying a Hello Kitty sunglass case. I’m such a sucker for Japanese branding!