TET

What was your perception of the US before you came and what was your first impression once you arrived? 
My images of the US came from my experience of knowing the modern artists in the US, such as Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns and Jackson Pollock. They are super modern and cool and I wanted to come here to experience the new world, full of new ideas.
When I first arrived here, riding a bus through Compton and its neighborhood, I did not get the sense of Los Angeles as super modern and cool as I imagined the city to be.

What was your life like when you arrived?
Originally Los Angeles was not my final destination but the transitional place to Montreal for some romantic ideas I had about the city. But when I arrived in Los Angeles I did not like the idea of carrying around my luggage and moving to Montreal. So I stayed in a cheap hotel in Little Tokyo for some time. I roamed around for ten days in the city and ran out of things to do, so I enrolled in “ESL” school on Sunset and Figueroa. And again my encounter into the new experiences, I met many interesting people from Latin America and some Europeans at the ESL school, including my future wife.

You mentioned your wife- can you share with me what she has meant to you? 
So I met my future wife at Evans Community Adult School, intersection of Sunset and Figueroa, and the school still exists at the same location. Her name was Joan and she was my English teacher, charismatic and liberal. She taught English, bringing up the current affairs by utilizing articles from “Newsweek”, using lyrics from songs to understand vocabulary and current affairs in the world.
I was politically naive as I grew up in the '60’s hippie culture. She taught me what it means to be a feminist and how important it is that we all need to care for the world.
We were together for 20 years and who I am now is deeply shaped and influenced by her. I am so grateful to have met the great mentor in my life. She passed away back in 1996 and I miss her greatly. She was a great human being who did not hesitate to reach out for love.

You're an architect at Gensler- can you share some buildings in LA you have helped design? 
MSC (Midfield Satellite Concourse) at LAX is currently under construction. It is located west of Bradley International Terminal West. When you fly from Tom Bradley terminal, you can see the construction of the new terminal. It is a beautiful terminal and I am so proud to be a part of the project team on this airport. The project like this won’t come around very often and I like the beautiful work on this scale of building and the scale of the project team.

What has been your favorite project in your career and why? 
So actually MSC is my favorite project so far. We worked on this project at LAX on site with many other people and we spent two years together at the same trailer. My favorite part of my career is that we work “together” and it is a beautiful way of spending time together building a world class airport.

How do you identify culturally? 
This is an interesting aspect of my life and perhaps it applies to some other immigrants as well. When I first came here, I wanted to assimilate to the US culture, the Los Angels culture to be exact. And as a result, I rejected the culture of Japan until recently. Now that I feel so deeply that Los Angeles is my home and I am part of the Los Angeles culture, I feel comfortable living here as a fully assimilated resident here. And I perceive Japan very differently now. I can see and appreciate Japanese culture more objectively. When I think about Japan and look into Japan, I can see the beauty of Japan and it no longer has any sentiment attached to my old self who left Japan 40 years ago. 

What are some moments in LA that you can share that helped shape your American identity? 
When I first came here and started working as a “Junior” architect, I felt like I was just a helper trying to make a living in this country.  I think working in the office for a long time and when my work started being recognized in the office, that is when I felt that I am the part of the fabric of the company and I felt that I am contributing to American society with my American identity.

Is there a story that you'd like to share about your life in LA right after you arrived or that is current that is meaningful to you ....
Ok, there is one funny story and it has to do with pronunciation of words. 
One day I wanted to get postage stamps. So the postage stamps are sold at the stationary store in Japan so I went to a stationary store and asked for postage “stumps”. And the clerk brought me the stationary pad and I said, “no I want postage stumps”. After back and forth, finally the clerk told me how to pronounce the word and said, “staaaaaaamps” like in a super southern accent. It made me laugh. 

Another story, my friend Tony was in my car and we were driving somewhere. He is Italian American from New York and we had a lot of fun together. So Tony said to me, “Tetsuro, take a left at the light”. So I said, what do you mean “take a left at the right ?”. And Tony looked at me strangely and repeated again, “take a left at the light”. Again I said to him, “WHAT DO YOU MEAN “take a left at the right”. This went on for a few more back and forth until finally we figured out the disconnect and we both burst into laughter.