Pharmacist George Tokuda opened Tokuda Drugs in 1935, and the establishment quickly became a fixture of Seattle’s Central District community. However, during World War II, he was one of thousands rounded up and sent to the Minidoka concentration camp in Idaho. During internment in 1942, he met his future wife Tama, a gifted performer and storyteller. The two restarted the drugstore after the war, moving to different locations on Yesler Way and Main Street.