Shichiro Kumasaka (1902-1974), also known as SK, the seventh son of Sataro and Kin, arrived in the United States in 1920.
Before settling in Seattle permanently, he worked at a Tacoma sawmill. That same year with his cousin, Tadajiro Ogata, he started an express transfer company, which was located in the North Coast building.
In April, 1926, he married Fusano Toshima (1904) of Fukushima-ken. He started a wholesale produce business on Western Avenue with Motosuke Hayasaka, buying from the local farmers in South Park and Fife areas.
As residents in Military Area Number One, Shichiro and his family were forced to evacuate to Camp Harmony in Puyallup, Washington. Their permanent relocation assignment was at the Minidoka Relocation Center in Idaho.
After the war, in 1945, Shichiro worked on farms in Ontario and Nyssa, Oregon. In December 1946, the family moved back to Seattle, staying with the Senda's. For a while he worked for the railroad, later becoming a gardener.
Shichiro and Fusano raised four children: Kazuo (1927), Tatsuo (1928), Junko (1931) and Henry Akio (1934).
Enjoying the outdoors, SK took advantage of what the Pacific Northwest had to offer. An avid fisherman, he derived pleasure from dock fishing with hand lines for shiners and sea perch, searching for rock cod holes, and locating sea cucumber beds.
He was also an ardent mushroom hunter, but in different seasons, his excursions into the woods might yield warabi (fern shoots) or wild fuki, both of which he relished.
In addition to the free food provided by nature, SK and Fusano enjoyed the annual harvest of their garden, which produced a variety of common vegetables, herbs, and flowers. From this garden-still maintained by Fusano comes chiso which provides the distinctive flavor in her celebrated fukujinzuke.
An interesting fact about Shichiro's life, as the youngest in a family with a wide age difference between the siblings, he was at birth the uncle of a nephew older than himself.
A friend to everyone, SK will be remembered for his punning sense of humor; yet, in times of seriousness, his strong sense of family would take precedent. Fond of ox-tail soup and Olympia beer, his "It's da watah" forever echoes.
