Grandfather raised in the hotel business

Great grandfather working in Hawaii Great grandparents' hotel business in Hawaii Grandfather raised in the hotel business Grandfather picked up by US Army Grandfather's interrogations during World War II Grandparents were incarcerated in Jerome, Arkansas Grandfather's business in Hawaii while in camp Finding his mother's high school valedictorian speech Grandfather helping administration in camp Grandfather Fujioka in Wailua Growing up Japanese in Hawaii Entering banking business

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My grandfather was raised in the hotel business so he had to learn how to do everything, including bookkeeping and what not, and he could really run the hotel, I guess, by the age of 14. But at that time my great-grandparents wanted him to be educated in Japan so they sent him back to Japan so he was Kibei when he came back, and of course that would be one of the reasons why there would be adverse consequences to that later on his life after Pearl Harbor.

Date: April 25, 2018
Location: California, US
Interviewer: John Esaki
Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum

hotel kibei language