The Kona Island community

The Kona Island community Going to Japanese school Starting work at five years old Traveling the world seven times Remembering December 7, 1941 Being an American soldier and an "enemy alien" Volunteering to serve for the U.S. military in Japan Meeting Japanese Americans from the mainland in MIS Awareness of concentration camps as a Japanese American Not relating to Japan Americans' experiences on the mainland Visiting family in Japan Being stationed in Japan during the American occupation Rebuilding Japan Investigating labor movements in Japan Feeling closer to Japan as a Japanese American Serving as a lawyer to Americans in Japan To serve as a lawyer Defining the term Nikkei

Transcripts available in the following languages:

I think the difference came about not with my parents, but with their product, which are the children of my parents, and the children of Kona for example. Somewhat different from other communities because Kona is very independent, and the people there are very outspoken and they are generally supposed to be stubborn farmers and determined. Because the community was a predominant society, by that I mean we were predominantly Japanese. The Filipinos, Portuguese, Chinese were all minority. So we grew up in a dominant society of Japanese. And that’s why the people in Kona are different in the sense that they are confident, determined, and self-assured.

Date: May 29, 2006
Location: Hawai`i, US
Interviewer: Akemi Kikumura Yano
Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum

community hawaii kona