Interviews
Feeling free and accepted in Hawaii
When I was living on the mainland, particularly up to this point, to about 1945. I had a good life, I felt. But when I went to Honolulu, I felt for the first time, free. What do you mean by free? Well, what I meant by free is that living on the mainland, I never knew when somebody is going to shoot an arrow at me, an insult, a barb, a comment, something, calling me Jap, “you’re not welcome here,” “what are you doing here?”
In Hawaii, I felt fully accepted. And so I thought, “Wow! This is a wonderful culture here.” Then I said there is a soul spirit, an aloha spirit, of being friendly, everybody is being welcome. It’s a good feeling of openness. They’re not afraid to talk about, what we used to call, “sacred cows,” and they are very open. They may be prejudice, but they are open about it, they are honest about it, and I like that honesty. Therefore, I felt this is a wonderful culture, that I am enjoying, and I felt I could grow in this kind of culture, and I liked it.
Date: March 4, 2005
Location: California, US
Interviewer: Florence Ochi, Art Hansen, Yoko Nishimura
Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum
Explore More Videos
The Kona Island community
(1923-2011) Lawyer, MIS veteran, founder of Francis and Sarah Sogi Foundation
The importance of Japanese American role models in childhood community
(b. 1955) Lawyer
Recognizing issues of dual identity in the nisei generation
(b. 1955) Lawyer
Heightened awareness of identity as a Japanese American
(b. 1955) Lawyer
Growing up with some Japanese families (Spanish)
(b. 1950) Nisei Chilean, Businessman
The various realities of Nikkei in Latin America (Spanish)
(b. 1950) Nisei Chilean, Businessman
Relief fund to support Japanese communities (Japanese)
(1900–1996) The mother of Nikkei Brazilian immigration
Role of Assistancia Social dom Jose Gaspar (Japanese)
(1900–1996) The mother of Nikkei Brazilian immigration
Support from the Japanese American community
(b.1971) Professional figure skater and Olympic gold medalist.
Different races have to live together and interact
(1917 - 2004) Political activist
The multicultural perspective
(b.1960) Third-generation taiko drummer, leader of Maui Taiko
Japanese in Minot
(1928 - 2008) Drafted into both the Japanese Imperial Army and the U.S. Army.