July 1 / 1940
THE NEW CANADIAN
Page 9
With the Compliments of
Mrs, A. Igashira
578 Powell Street
Jubilee Cleaners
1215 Kingsway
Palace Dressmakers
����� Y. Nakamura 3917 Main Street
Marubashi Shoten
306 West 5th Avenue
M. Koda
1097 W. Broadway b7 7500
Uno Shoten
305 West 4th Avenue
K. Gondo
660 Kingsway
Olympia Confectionery
K. Yamanobe ~ -'1387 Granville Street
Customers' Grocery
F. Fujino ' 2242 Granville BA. 2556
Davie Dressmakers
F. Htrano - 1063 Davie Street
Master Cleaners
F;..G. Mizutani �760 W. 4th BA. 6538
Maple Leaf Market
K. Tanaka "
J085 W. 1�,K BA. 5109
! i
! Mi Tsuyuki
mi W. 4rh
The Nisei's Business Assets
TS it possible ior the second generation Japanese .A in business to capitalize on his racial back-ground; and thus overcome- some of the handicaps which in tact have actually sprung from that �background? Wehave laid great stress upon the restrictions/ which are Imposed upon the Nisei because, he is: of foreign extraction, but little has beensnld of the advantages which his background-actually Rives hhn.�.�In--'making his' way in the competitive world of today.
Actually, in the field of. services and - allied .businesses; the Japanese have won. an almost reluctant admiration from customers of every type and lute. 'But how does he survive In the face of ruthless competition : from largo- and pow^ful. business institutions, department stores: or chain stores? The corner grocery, the tiny. dry-cleaning shop, the neat little dressmaking shop^-all. have: a quality that their larger competitors can never acquire to the same degree� the porsonal element so lacking in this day 'o!����' mechanical shopping.
��; Coimneutingupon.the expansion in commercial activity among. the Japanese in the. province, a trained economist noted that,it. was the natural outcome of restrictions imposed in other occupations; and that the direct linkage with the pi-ice system afforded at least a means of subsistence. Butthis does not explain. .why. this expansion should have reached such "proportions, or the success which a group, handicapped by a -:different racial and cultural vbaekground. "should have won. - The answer, then, must lie in the
native ability selves.
and energy of the people them-
rpllK corner grocery man or- the filling-station A operator is an unsch&oled psychologist, He
Photo by Jo Scho. -_. � Twenty-five years ago, ironing dayspelled ''drudgery � 'day'..'-, for the women folk, Using flat irons which had to be heated on a blazing stove to get: the proper results,, they literally had to slave in order to get their day's worksdone, not to- mention the- herculean task rof pressing their husband's and sons' suits.
reads^people like a daily-paper,-and deftly.adapts ... J�{w Jl�^er:yj^ardwwanJ pahisiaking tosk
himself and his wares to each particular customer. Sometimes, in fact, as has often happened in the City of Vancouver, he has developed an instinctive - feeling for police informers/; or more familiarly, "stool pigeons." It is a far from uncommon experience- for a Japanese.grocer to he approached on a Wednesday afternoon holiday or Sunday, and asked to sell, grpeories illegally. Usually :h& \yill refuse, but when urged repeatedly to oblige a "customer," he- may consent to sell a" quarter pound of butter. Whereupon, as soon as the sale is completed,- and the 'customer" departs, an officer or the law will enter, take the proprietor's -name and address, and. within a short time a;"blue paper" or summons for in-jf^ctlou/nof the city by-law arrives..One particuv lar/~case*treceived considi^bleTifublicity^heOauseT the informers concerned were / respect a ble. city, aldermen.
BUT apart from the, application of - psychology to his customers, probably the greatest asset the average Japanese^merchant possesses is Iris: own .sense of independent responsibility, which hnpells him to set and; maintain the highest: pos1 sible standards for his own product or workman-ship. The extra care applied in every detail Of business accompanied . by genuine - courtesy and a desire- to -please win friends and customers,* and -pays -its' own dividends.
This reputation "of. service, workmanship and courtesy- is one. that:.the Nisei must maintain,; They have' given ;every 'evidence of intelligence in school years, as well asof the ability to master knowledge of the English language ought to aid them not merely in ipreserving-the fields first exploited by their fathers, but.eyen to avail them-, as well as to branch into others. -
0/ pressing cloiTf?s~hds^bc76n7c':^ For efficient and .hard^wofking : Japanest Canadians �-. have.dorie much to- mahc 'Women's lives -easier �by de-. veloping the��-�.cleaningand- pressing business to a highly; modernized trade, using their, inherited skill for neat and careful work to the ^utmost, .Flat- irons': have become a rarity t\r their establishments; pressing i$ done neatly-and efficiently with �-- tip-tOrdatc steam equipment as pictured in the above scene,
/~pll ERE: is still further ^opportunity for those who have cultivated a striking personality in specialty shops of all kinds, if the Chinese have-given us novel eating places In which chop-suey and ehow mehr are served^eating places from the heart of Japanese town in Vancouver - to ~Tiines~*Squaro~iu^�?ew^.Yojk^surely the Nisei ought to have faith In their ow:n capacities.
O
NE very great psychologlca 1 advantage which we possess is our outlook upon Canada. In a recent issue of the "Chinese Patriot,", a mimeographed bulletin issued by the Victoria Chinese Youth Association, a writer.-refers.to Chinese second generation as "guests in this country.". But while their fathers- may have considered themselves to- bo-guests,: second generation Japanese feel that the country in which they are born is their own., and their future lies here.,. J ^JThis> difference-In ? attitude.1 plus-the inheritance, of courtesy* manual dexterity, and the experience of having to struggle even as children, will go far in assisting the: Nisei to raise themselves to an economic standard as high., if-not highfcr than (he average for the country- as: a whole." ; -.: Yes; the Nisei can capitalize on- their, racial selves of further-opportunitiesvin the same fields.: background.
Dick's Market
Bonnie Lass Dressmakers
:. � M. Hat.tori . 4343 Dunbar BA. 0539
T. \naba 3291 W. Broadway, BA. 7317
Pacific Cleaners
K. Shtmizu 1006 Seymour Street
H. Watanabe
4441 West Tenth Ave.
Compliments of
West End Cleaners
S. Okuma J
1219 Davie SE. 7056
Olympic Cleaners
Mrs. S Iwai 3212 Dunbar Street
Sunrise Cleaners
- Miss Kate Oyama 3446 Dunbar BA. 5175
Kondo Brothers
1801 Main St.
FA- 1722
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' With the Compliments of
Mrs. M. Isezaki
2229 Granville, BA. 3 786-1
Mrs. A. Morita
1645 W. Broadway, B. 2339-R(
O.K. Cleaners
K Akiyama 2308 Granville BA. 0718
Circle Cross Cleaners
Kr Asano 1815 W. Broadway, BA. 1386
Snow White Cleaners
J. Nakashima 2503 W. Broadway; BA. 7170
Fuji Dressmakers
Mrs. S. Tonegawa 2587 W Broadway, BA 3433R
T. Yamamoto
3476 W. Broadway, BA. 7458
John's Confectionery
^ H. Kobayashl 202 Carrall Street
Togo Tailors
S.- Asa2uma 2601 W. Broadway, BA. 8220
Two Sisters
Miss A. Goromaru. " 2904 W. Broadway, BA. 1765
Jack's Cleaners
" Y. Oka no 3084 W.. Broadway, BA. 6717
Lilac Cleaners
Y. Watanabe 4543 Dunbar BA. 8977
R. Kozuki
4201 Main StrWt