Interviewee: John Kabashima

Relationship to Nikkei gardeners: His father owned Sunnyview Nursery in Crenshaw. John is now the horticulture advisor for the University of California.

Date: July 17, 2007

Location: Japanese American National Museum

Brief Description: John discusses the real community feel of the Japanese American community in the United States.

Transcription
In retrospect, talking to people as I traveled, everybody talks about the lack of community in the United States, and especially in the urban areas like Los Angeles. I tell them, “you know when I grew up, the Japanese American communities were really communities.” And, we all knew each other. We knew each other’s families. When I was a kid, we’d ride our bicycles, and take off, and we’d go what we thought was far enough away that nobody would know us, and then we’d get home and we were always up to some kind of prank. And, by the time I got home, my parents would know what I did. And, we’d be in trouble. It was just a wonderful place to grow up when I was a young person.

See part 1 and part 3 or this interview.

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This interview was conducted as part of the Opening Day activities for the exhibition Landscaping America: Beyond the Japanese Garden.