Interviews

1. Father retouching photos of picture brides

2. Getting married

3. Possibility of being adopted by aunt

4. Day Pearl Harbor was bombed

5. Working in the pineapple fields

6. Tree planting

Ariyoshi,Jean Hayashi

Former First Lady of Hawai'i

Day Pearl Harbor was bombed

The day that Pearl Harbor was bombed. I remember I was walking to church on Westerville(?) Street. And I had no inkling of what was happening. As I reached church, they sort of herded us into a room, and we just played there until they let us go. But I remember, close to my father’s shop, some bullets had hit in downtown Wahiawa. And so, my father was very afraid because he was an alien. But, fortunately, he did not have to go to the -- he was not interned.

World War II

Date: December 15, 2003

Location: Hawai`i, US

Interviewer: Lisa Itagaki

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

Interviewee Bio

Jean (Hayashi) Ariyoshi, who holds a B.A. in speech and a B.S. in math from the University of Hawai`i, met her future husband George Ariyoshi while earning her teaching credential and serving as a speech instructor. She also hosted a weekly television talent show. They married in 1955, a year after his election as a Democrat to the Hawai`i Territorial House.

Heavily involved in charitable and community causes during her husband’s tenure as Hawai’i’s governor between 1974 and 1986, she established the First Lady’s Volunteer Awards to honor Hawaii’s outstanding volunteers annually. After the end of her duties as first lady, she became a domestic and international philanthropic figure. (December 2003)