Interviews

1. Great grandfather working in Hawaii

2. Great grandparents' hotel business in Hawaii

3. Grandfather raised in the hotel business

4. Grandfather picked up by US Army

5. Grandfather's interrogations during World War II

6. Grandparents were incarcerated in Jerome, Arkansas

7. Grandfather's business in Hawaii while in camp

8. Finding his mother's high school valedictorian speech

9. Grandfather helping administration in camp

10. Grandfather Fujioka in Wailua

11. Growing up Japanese in Hawaii

12. Entering banking business

Fujioka,Robert T.

(b. 1952) Former banking executive, born in Hawaii

Grandfather's business in Hawaii while in camp

When they went to Jerome and during the time when my grandfather was sent around the US, his business was doing well and fortunately he had these two trusted lieutenants that he basically said “Okay just keep the business going, Honolulu is still ok, everything is gonna be all right.” But clearly there were people who were trying to steal the business from him. And again you always look at the downside but these two people saved his agency and protected it during the entire war and also tried to get him money because his money was in Japanese banks and it was frozen and life was tough during the war.

business economics Hawaii management United States World War II

Date: April 25, 2018

Location: California, US

Interviewer: John Esaki

Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum

Interviewee Bio

Robert Fujioka was born in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1952. He attended the University of Michigan earning a BA degree and earned an MBA from the University of Hawai'i. He has been in the banking industry since 1974 and currently serves as Vice Chair, Japanese American National Museum Board of Trustees, a Trustee of the Clarence T.C. Ching Foundation, and the First Hawaiian Bank Foundation. (November 2018)