In an era without the Internet
On October 20, 2018, Takeo Kinjo, publisher of the magazine "Go Daizu" and president of the Okinawan Association of North America, passed away at his home in Los Angeles at the age of 96.
I had the opportunity to interview Kinjo twice. The first time was when I was interviewing him for a feature article called "Okinawa in America" for the Japanese magazine Frontline in the US. When I was selecting several people of Okinawan origin, both old and new, who were active in the US, I was strongly recommended by Tome Yoshihiro, a former chairman of the Okinawans of North America, that I should definitely interview Kinjo Takeo, so I decided to interview him.
The meeting place was a food court in a shopping mall in West Los Angeles. A small man in his 80s with a striking tanned face appeared with Tome-san. I had heard that he was a newspaper publisher and a former prefectural chairman, so I was prepared for him, but Kinjo-san's simple and unpretentious demeanor betrayed my expectations in a good way.
As I began my interview, I was immediately drawn in by his frank and humorous way of speaking. This simplicity was also the image of the pages of Kinjo's newspaper, "Godaizu." Although it was a single medium that summarized the trends of Okinawans from all over the world, it was truly a handmade newspaper, made up of handwritten letters and cut-and-paste. Nevertheless, it was easy to see at a glance what activities the Uchinanchu in Brazil were involved in and what awards the Uchinanchu in Los Angeles had received. It was launched nearly 50 years ago, when there was no Internet like there is today, so it is easy to imagine how revolutionary it was.
Tomei-san became deeply acquainted with Kinjo-san around the time of the first Worldwide Uchinanchu Festival, held in Okinawa in 1990. Nowadays, it is a large-scale event that attracts thousands of people with roots in Okinawa from overseas, with a total attendance of over 400,000 people. Nearly 30 years ago, Kinjo-san, who was the president of the North American Okinawan Association at the time, was concerned with how to gather as many participants as possible from parts of the U.S. that have poor access to Japan, except for Los Angeles, and asked Tomei-san, who frequently traveled between Okinawa and the U.S. for work, for help. Tomei-san, who was appointed as the first Uchinanchu civilian ambassador by Okinawa Prefecture along with Kinjo-san, recalls that when he attended the Uchinanchu Festival, he was impressed by Kinjo-san's passionate speech about how important it was to build a network of Uchinanchu around the world. Okinawa Prefecture is leading the call for a network of Uchinanchu, but in 1990, Kinjo-san was calling for this necessity. It is safe to say that he had foresight.
Shortly after I finished the interview at the food court, I received a letter from Kaneshiro. The letter contained words of encouragement: "Thank you for interviewing me. Keep up the great work." It is our job to send a thank-you letter along with the publication to those who cooperated with the interview, and this is the only time I have ever received a letter from someone who had been interviewed before.
That second experience came after I interviewed Kinjo for the second time. The next time we met was when I started a serial article introducing Okinawan Americans in an Okinawan newspaper. Once again, I couldn't leave out Kinjo, so this time I met him at a hamburger restaurant. This was about six or seven years ago. He must have been close to 90 years old at the time, but he continued to publish the newspaper. And again, right after the interview, I received a letter of encouragement from Kinjo. I imagine that Kinjo wrote and mailed the letter on the same day. He was a man of action who immediately put his mind to action, and a kind-hearted person who couldn't help but offer words of encouragement to someone like me who was a junior.
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Kinjo was born in Hawaii in 1922. He moved to Okinawa with his mother when he was one year old and finished elementary school in Kin Town village. He returned to Hawaii at the age of 14, and then moved to the mainland United States at the age of 16. War broke out between Japan and the United States before he could graduate from high school, and Kinjo was sent to an internment camp for Japanese Americans. After the war, he considered returning to Okinawa, but heard about food shortages in Japan. In the end, he began working as a gardener in Los Angeles in 1948. At the same time, he continued working in newspaper publishing, which could be called his life's work.
The newspaper itself was free, but subscribers sent in donations. Kinjo saved up the money little by little and sent it to Okinawa Prefecture. He donated it to the Human Resource Development Foundation, hoping that it would be used for students studying in Okinawa from the United States. Tome recalls the noble personality of the late Mr. Kinjo, saying that he was a man who had no desire for power or money.
I later had the opportunity to interview his eldest son, Albert Kinjo. At the time, Albert was working at a major architectural firm, where he was involved in the design of large-scale buildings such as universities, airports, and train stations.
On November 15, 2018, Kinjo's funeral was held at a Japanese funeral home in downtown Los Angeles. Many of the attendees were affiliated with the Okinawan Association of North America. His eldest daughter Edith Kinjo read a farewell message, and the following words were striking: "My father always repeatedly said that it was important to be kind to others. He would help first-generation Japanese who could not speak English with their paperwork. I will miss being able to talk to my cheerful father, but I believe he is having a great time with my mother in heaven."
In his eulogy, Isao Ikehara, a friend of Kinjo's and a member of the West Los Angeles Holiness Church, mentioned that Kinjo was baptized as a Christian at the age of 95. This is a typical story of Kinjo, who maintained a positive attitude no matter how old he was. He was a person who made a strong impact on me, even though I only met him twice. I pray for his soul to rest in peace.
© 2018 Keiko Fukuda
