Interviews
Growing up in Waikiki
I didn't grow up in a plantation town like many of my brethren did. And I didn't live in, you know, there were many enclaves of ghettos, where they had strong Japanese presence, like in Moiliili or Palama and so forth. But Waikiki was very cosmopolitan. My neighbors were, my immediate neighbors, after we moved on Cartwright Road with the Rasmussens and the Ornellas, I guess of Portuguese descent, and quite well-to-do. And on the other side was the Donnelly, who was a German. So it was a very mixed group. There were scatterings of Japanese around, and most of the Japanese who lived in Waikiki, as my parents did, worked in the hotels, and it was the Moana Hotel, the Royal Hawaiian and the Halekulani. Those were the three big hotels, maybe the only hotels in those days. And my dad worked in all of them.
Date: March 19, 2004
Location: California, US
Interviewer: Mitchell Maki
Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum.
Explore More Videos
Helping soldiers
An expert researcher and scholar on Japanese immigrant clothing.
Feeling empowered by taiko
Co-founder and creative director of San Jose Taiko
Sense of lineage between Sansei and Issei through Taiko
Co-founder and creative director of San Jose Taiko
Image of Americans
Sansei from Hawaii living in Japan. Teacher and businesswoman.
Japanese influence growing up
(b.1942) Japanese American ceramist, who has lived in Japan for over 30 years.
Diverse membership in San Jose Taiko
Co-founder and creative director of San Jose Taiko
Looking at your country from the outside
(b.1942) Japanese American ceramist, who has lived in Japan for over 30 years.
Wife's family in Japan
(b.1942) Japanese American ceramist, who has lived in Japan for over 30 years.
Lack of notion of citizenship in Japan
(b.1935) American born Japanese. Retired businessman.
Lack of language skills
(b.1964) California-born business woman in Japan. A successor of her late grandmother, who started a beauty business in Japan.
Preserving traditional Japanese culture
(b.1964) California-born business woman in Japan. A successor of her late grandmother, who started a beauty business in Japan.
Having patience in Japan, being both
(b.1964) California-born business woman in Japan. A successor of her late grandmother, who started a beauty business in Japan.
Being on the outside
(b.1948) Nikkei from Southern California living in Japan.
His parents' experience with Japanese resistance toward intermarriage with Okinawans
(b.1925) Nisei of Okinawan descent. Had a 38-year career in Japan as a baseball player, coach, scout, and manager.
