Ike Hatchimonji

Ike Hatchimonji is a retired United States foreign service officer who has worked with the U.S. embassies in Vietnam, Nicaragua, and Zaire, as well as in Washington D.C. in the Agency for International Development. He has been a Volunteer Docent at the Japanese American National Museum for 16 years. His wife Ruth and he have three children and six grandchildren.

Updated February 2008

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Nanka Nikkei Voices

Recollections of the Hatchimonji Family

  • Por Ike Hatchimonji
  • 11 Feb 2014

My father and mother, Kumezo and Nobue (Komuro) Hatchimonji (originally spelled Hachimonji) were, like so many other immigrants from Japan, two Issei individuals who came to America to start a new life, a new family, and to seek new opportunities. Like their fellow Issei, theirs was not an easy life but with characteristic patience and hope, they succeeded with a legacy of achievement and pride.

To describe some of the cultural traits that the Issei generation possessed, certain generalizations can be made, characterizations found in my parents. These characteristics are commonly thought of as perseverance (gaman) and an indomitable spirit ...

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Japan’s Imperial Rescript on Education: How important was it in the Japanese American Experience?

  • Por Ike Hatchimonji
  • 13 Feb 2008

Despite its value in teaching the cultural virtues of Japan to the Nisei in pre-WW II America, the Rescript could have been used against them.

An important aspect of the upbringing of the Nisei generation in most Nikkei communities before World War II was their training in the Japanese language. Being able to speak and write in the language of their Issei parents and thereby enabling them to communicate with them was necessary. But it was also a part of the cultural heritage the Issei wished to preserve.

In the classrooms, a part of the learning of the Japanese language ...

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