Starting work at five years old

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:

As soon as I could work, I was put to work. I*: How old were you then? Five or six?
I: Five or six? Yeah. I: Wow! Yes, because anyone who was able to pick up a hoe and weed the grass and so forth, we were required to work. Everyone worked seven days a week except Sundays some days we rested. During coffee season, it was seven days a week of hard labor. *"I" indicates an interviewer (Akemi Kikumura Yano).

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

coffee farming hawaii kona