This oral history interview with Jack T. Ouchida was conducted by Linda Doami at Ouchida’s home in Gresham, Oregon, in two sessions, on February 25 and April 8, 1995. The interview was recorded as part of the Japanese American Oral History Project, which was conducted by the Oregon Historical Society to preserve the stories of Japanese Americans in Oregon. Ouchida’s wife, Shizuko Ouchida, was also present, and occasionally contributed to the interview in Japanese. In addition to the audio recording of the interview, this collection includes one black and white photograph of Ouchida’s parents, Kiuda and Shizuo Ouchida, circa 1915.

In the first interview session, conducted on February 25, 1995, Jack Ouchida discusses his family background and early life as a second-generation Japanese American in Gresham before World War II. He talks about differences between the first and second generations of Japanese Americans, about his relationship with his parents and siblings, and about relations between Japanese American and white neighbors. He speaks about his marriage to Shizuko Harano. He discusses speaking both English and Japanese, his early education, and his family’s farm in Gresham. He speaks about his work as a farmer and about how farming has changed over the 20th century. He shares the reasons why Japanese people immigrated to the United States in the early 1900s, talks about a trip he took to Japan in 1965, and shares his memories of attending services at the Oregon Buddhist Church. He discusses his involvement in the church at the time of the interview, as well as his involvement with the Japanese American Citizens League and with Toastmasters.

In the second interview session, conducted on April 8, 1995, Ouchida discusses the practice of Japanese American men marrying “picture brides” from Japan, including his own marriage to Shizuko Harano. He talks about Japanese American families in the Gresham area, about social activities in the Japanese American community, and about his experiences attending Japanese school. He also discusses the Ouchida family crest. He speaks further about his early life, including life on the family farm, his recreational activities, and access to medical care in the Japanese American community. He discusses his experience of incarceration by the U.S. government at the Portland Assembly Center during World War II, and his release to work on a sugar beet farm in Nyssa, Oregon. He talks about returning to Gresham a few years after the war ended, and about his experiences operating farms afterward, until the time of the interview. He closes the interview by discussing his involvement with the Oregon Horticultural Society and the Japanese American Citizens League.