File:Chicago Hotel, Seattle, 1937 (31336221561).jpg

This building is currently a parking lot. In 1937 it had the Chicago Hotel upstairs, as well as 3 cafes (one named Angelo Cafe on the corner) and a barber on the first floor, along with jeweler O. Kimura.

The clock on the right side of the photograph was owned by Otomatsu Kimura. This is one of four confirmed sightings of this clock. It was cataloged in a 1924 inventory of clocks, and is seen in a photo taken i late 1942, an undated (1940s or 1950s) image and a 1950 view. Because there is no street use permit for its installation, I believe it was installed prior to 1917.

According to his <a href="http://www.japaneserelocation.org/index.php?page=directory&rec=93867" rel="noreferrer nofollow">illegal internment file</a>, Otomatsu was born in Japan in 1874 and arrived in the US in 1903. Marriage records show that he married Suwa Yamamoto in 1907, who was born in Shiga prefecture just like him. She immigrated to the US in 1907 and her signature was in Japanese on the certificate, hints that they had an arranged marriage. He was already 43. They had two sons and a daughter over the next five years.

In the 1910 census he already listed his profession as a retail jeweler. Newspaper articles later described him as a pawnbroker, so he sold at least some used good. A 1940 immigration document typewritten "jeweler" was overwritten with "watch maker" as his profession.

That same year he paid for an elaborate entry in the city directory, saying: "Expert watchmaker, all repair work guaranteed, 21 years of dependable service at this location, 510 Jackson near 5th Av S". That matches our photograph, where a large placard over his door says "O Kimura - Expert Watchmaker". If the date is accurate, he opened the store in 1909.

In 1940 his two sons Osamu ("Sam") and Kazuota were living with him with Kaz's wife Masako and their daughter Kujoko and newborn grandson Katsumi. The sons both worked at the University Club, one as a steward and one as a bartender.

He went to the holding area at the Puyallup fair grounds and then spent the war at the Minidoka camp. At the time he entered the prison he was 67 years old. His grandson was 3.

Otomatsu grew up on a farm in Japan, and must have worked at Puget Sound oyster beds and some sort of an amusement park per his employment record.

He returned to Seattle after the war with his wife, children and grandchildren.

Kimura died in 1964 at the age of 90. His obituary in the Seattle Times said that he owned his own store until he retired in 1955. Suwa preceded him in death in 1959. At that time they already had one great-grandchild. When he died there were 5.

I'm not yet sure if he returned to the same storefront and retained ownership of the clock. But by 1950 the clock's face was covered with a sign saying "DRY GOODS". So at least in the final years his business was elsewhere.