0:05 And welcome back to another episode of Lick Your Foot Boys. >> Be very careful in this world. >> Thank you, Joe. Speaking of um Joe, uh can you tell us all the story of your parents' immigration? >> Oh, man. They came all the way from Japan. >> Thank you. Is that the whole story? >> Da da da da No. Uh If you like this channel, don't forget to subscribe. [laughter] Hit the like button. Leave Don't leave, please. See you guys next time in the next video. >> So, you know like how everyone has all these like immigration stories? >> As if we ever do call to actions. >> That'll be so funny. >> [laughter] >> All right. All right. >> You know how like everyone has these immigration stories where they're like man, my parents, they had like they they they had to run away from communist. They were dirt poor. They had to come America. Man, when I heard I was kind of jealous cuz all my Asian
0:56 friends have these like hardcore stories of like we had go on a boat. We were like we were like lost at sea. We were so hungry. You know, like they have all these cool struggle stories, right? My dad was they don't like classical music in Japan. So, I'm going to Germany or America. >> [laughter] >> So, I would have been like >> Wait, so your parents, were they >> I I could have been like Adolf Adolf Momma. >> Did they meet Did they meet here or did they meet in Japan? >> They met in Japan because they went to the same college. So, they were called they went they got together in college. And then my dad, um you know, he he >> Knocked her up. >> Oh, yeah. >> Yeah, he did. He had my bro my brother was born there. And then, um he was building like a music school and all that. And karaoke
1:46 was getting really hot, right? And then what people wanted to do is they wanted to learn enka, which is like Japanese soul. And he goes, "Man, these ████ Japs, they don't appreciate real music." So, he's like, I got to go I got to go to where they appreciate classical music cuz he was a classical singer. And then so yeah, I guess he went to Europe and during college uh he did a study abroad and he went to the States and he really loved it. He was like, "Man, America's so free. America's so cool. Like they There's There's a uh There's a way to make money from the arts here that I don't think you can in Asia in the same way." Cuz over there they wanted to hire him as a as a karaoke coach. >> Wow. >> "I'm a classical musician." >> Karaoke coach? >> to He goes, "That ████ was super hot."
2:36 Um and then and then in that era in the '80s there were like hell of money in Japan. Like it was new money. Like all those new companies like Honda, Toyota, all of them were like hell of money were You know like in the Forbes like list of like top rich people? It was like it was like Japanese company owners for like hell of years until Bill Gates in the '90s. So, like there was ████ stupid money and everyone's like, "I want to learn karaoke. I'll pay you ████ 200 bucks an hour." It is like in the '80s. >> To learn karaoke? >> Yeah, it was like they all were going ca- crazy over like, "I want to be good at karaoke." >> Wow. >> going to I'm going to get a vocal coach for that. I know, right? They suck. >> balled out but then because he was too good for it he was like, "Nah, I'm going to go to America." >> He's an artist. >> Yeah, he was. So, he came here and then um he went to school like and then he
3:26 had like he was being mentored by some classical singer in USC like a like a vocal coach or some ████ there. And then like he did some performances and he goes, "I love America." So, he went back and then my um >> Hell yeah. >> uncle he's a pastor and then I forgot his reason but um he really wanted to come to the States and then he got connected with the It's the Seventh-day Adventist circuit. It's the It's the It's the whole organization. And he got connected with a language school here. So, the church owned a Japanese language school, and they had two churches there in Gardena. And then um my dad got okayed for a job there. My mom got okayed for a job there, and my uncle something like And
4:16 then they all came together. I wasn't even born yet. And then they they um they had this like little ass house. It was It was like It looked like it was like 800 square feet. And then they all lived together, so it was my mom, my dad, my brother, my uncle, and his three kids. And and his and and his wife, which is my mom's sister. And it so it was that. And then um and I when and then when they moved out, that's when I was born. But during that process, yeah, my dad first came to the States. No, it it was high school, I think. No, ████ it. I don't know. He was He was He was young. He really liked it, came back, he couldn't forget about it, and then he kept thinking America's the place I got to go. And he did make the right decision when he came here because a lot of um companies were starting to blow
5:06 up, the Japanese companies in the '80s and '90s. Um so, it was yeah, he came in the '80s. And then he said that all of these companies were like, "We need people." So, what they were doing is it Let's say you're middle management in Japan and you're making like 60 grand a year, right? You get to keep your 60, and they'll double it when they when you came to the States. So, all of a sudden these guys are like, "Oh, hell yeah. Uh I'm a I'm a do that." And then you can start at a higher position. >> Oh, cuz they're like opening Toyota corporations like >> Yeah. >> California, Texas, wherever. Yeah, yeah, yeah. >> So, they needed people. So, you have Nissan, Toyota, Honda, ████ Sony, like all these Japanese companies. >> Yamaha, Suzuki, Toshiba. >> Literally. And then um hell of people were coming in. And then all of their you know,
5:56 I think it's a sign of prestige for Asians to be like, I'm going to send my kids to learn piano. ████ all that stuff. So he So So him and my mom built that. And then um all of their all of these executives' [snorts] kids would come over and then like >> Do you think he achieved his goal? Cuz he came here for classical music. But now instead of teaching karaoke, he's teaching kids. Is he still doing what he wanted or he's like, "F███, I still didn't get to do what I wanted to." >> [laughter] >> It's kind of like having a jujitsu school where your your bread and butter is the kids, but you make the real money uh that's where you make the real money. But he was He was on Japanese TV. >> Oh, out here. I see. I see. >> He was a part of The Phantom of the Opera show. >> He was able to do what he wanted to do. >> Yeah, so he got to He got to do it. And then yeah, my mom got to play music a
6:46 lot. So they had their like regular grind and then they had their So I think they they got to do it, but what he told me is that he didn't achieve what he wanted to cuz he dreamed small. So he was only thinking about the Japanese community. He wasn't thinking about breaking out into the mainstream. He was a perfectionist. >> Because everything must be perfection. >> Yeah. And he goes, "That really held them back from just going out there cuz he was like, I'm too scared of um ████ up when people are pushing him." And my mom was like telling him like people were like mentoring him from like different universities and they're just like, "You got to go. You got to You got to do this show. You got to audition for this." But he didn't want to do it. Yeah. >> [snorts] >> And then my mom um she tagged along and she got her green card and she didn't
7:36 get her citizenship for like decades after because she was like, "I don't need to. But my aunt was the same way. Like a lot of people, I think they get their uh what do you call it? Their visa or their work permit or like they get halfway there. Yeah, and then they never really I I don't think that they go through the whole process to be a citizen for some reason. >> Did your mom have a say in it? Was your mom like or was just your dad like, I want to go to America to classical music? Did your mom have to go like, um maybe we shouldn't or yeah, that's a good idea. >> [laughter] >> I mean >> Talk about it, please. >> She told me she didn't really want to come to the States because she was scared. But it was it was like um leaving her She likes routine. So she didn't want to leave her
8:27 community, her friends. And then she's kind of like she doesn't like um She doesn't like to to stray from things that she's comfortable with. >> Yeah. >> But she's glad she's did cuz cuz it challenged her to like She's like it's one of those things where you don't want to do it until you do it and you're like, oh I'm glad I did it cuz then I saw the world. >> I see. >> Yeah, but she was really scared to come over here. She's like, we weren't poor. Like she had more support over there than she did over here. Both of them actually came from like well-to-do families. So they had like money being sent to them and ████ and they came here, they ████ up so hard cuz they never knew how to like manage money. But [snorts] um my mom didn't want to come to America, but of tagged along and she felt the support from my uncle and aunt. And then which when they got here though, she said she was hella culture
9:19 shocked. Like she was like after we got out of the airport, she goes she said, I saw all these guys just jogging with their shirts off and I was like, oh ████ that's how they do it here. She's like, I love it. >> [laughter] >> Perfect all. >> She was all blushing. >> [laughter] >> We should live at Venice Beach. >> Have you heard of Paris syndrome? Or a lot of um Japanese tourists, right? They dream of like what France is going to be like. And then they just save up hell of money and then they finally get to go to Paris and they're devastated at how dirty and ████ up it is. So my mom had that with America. Cuz like, you know Paris is like you go there and it's like "Why is there so many ████ tents everywhere and like dirty ass homeless people?"
10:09 >> now how they >> You got to go during the winter. Cuz the snow covers them all and it looks beautiful. >> Jesus. [laughter] >> Well, she told me that too where she's like, "You think America is like this rich it's the richest country in the world." She goes, "It's like the best thing ever." She goes, and then as soon as she got to the States, she's like, "What the ████ This is like a third world country." >> Everywhere looks like ████ from Japanese standards. >> Yeah, Japan's standard's hard to ████ impress. >> But I think for her, she thought that it would be better than Japan. Because it's the it's it's supposed to be number one, right? >> Damn, I don't know about that. >> Maybe if she's just touring like military bases only or something. >> then, dude. >> [laughter] >> You got to go to like maybe a IKEA's grand opening week before anyone even tagged up the bathrooms and that's it.
10:59 Yeah, so she was shocked at how dirty and crazy and like dangerous and like she just didn't know like um [snorts] we the first place we moved into was Inglewood when I was born. >> Damn. >> She went hard mode right away. >> Were the were the Popeye's bulletproof at the time? >> She didn't know. They didn't know what ghetto was. >> [laughter] >> They thought they lived in little Africa. Cuz she's like, "In America, you just have these different cultures." Right? [laughter] >> Little Africa? >> And then she just thought like we're in different communities. And then back then you went to the newspaper and you go to the classifieds and then you look at like homes for rent. >> Yeah. >> And then they're going, "Oh, ████ This fits our budget." So then it's near the airport and it's really cheap. >> Yeah, [laughter] so they rolled up and then um it was actually owned by a Japanese person. So it was like one of
11:50 those like little communities and then he he had like a uh he was an auto mechanic and then he had a little house there. So my parents moved in, they thought it was chill. And then um they went to like a doctor's appointment and they're like, "Wait, you live in that neighborhood?" They're like, "You got to get the hell out of there." And they're like, "Why?" They're like, "It's dangerous. You don't know how dangerous it is." >> Damn. >> And then my parents were just like, "Man, you're just afraid of black people." Like there's you're just racist. Yeah, [laughter] he didn't they didn't know. Like they're like, "Well, our neighbors are chill." But then like my grandma and I would like she would come she would walk me around the neighborhood as a toddler and then dudes would like chuck bottles like they would like have detergent and then just chuck it at her and and then smack her with it and ████ her up. So then afterwards they're like, "Yeah, we got to move out of here." >> That's insane. [laughter] >> Yeah. >> For no reason?
12:40 >> No, they I mean it's just probably teenagers >> ████ around? >> Yeah, but they didn't know anything about America. They just didn't know how ████ crazy it could be, right? Like you're not supposed to walk around like people will rob you. Yeah, yeah, yeah. >> Yeah, so they're just kind of like ignorant. But um Yeah, that that's kind of it. >> [laughter]
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