Interviews

1. Growing up in Waikiki

2. Working at a first aid station on Oahu after December 7

3. Under suspicion after Pearl Harbor

4. 442 soldiers visiting U.S. concentration camps

5. Teaching at the military language school during World War II

6. Devastation in Tokyo after World War II

7. Change in attitudes after World War II

8. Lesson learned from community college faculty

9. Rewards of teaching

Kosaki,Richard

(b. 1924) Political scientist, educator, and administrator from Hawai`i

Under suspicion after Pearl Harbor

As I recall, it wasn't that, I didn't feel that mixed up. I think our loyalties were clear. We're Americans, and we'd try to do our best. And, but there was discrimination in the sense that those of us of Japanese ancestry were more under suspicion. We couldn't take national defense jobs. My friends, my older friends who were in the National Guard were kicked out, unceremoniously. We were classified 4-F and so on. And so it wasn't a happy time. Of course, no one was happy in those days. But in Hawaii we were fortunate in we had friends, non-Japanese, who, I think, stuck up for us and helped a great deal in easing the tensions.

discrimination Hawaii Hawaii National Guard interpersonal relations racism United States United States National Guard World War II

Date: March 19, 2004

Location: California, US

Interviewer: Mitchell Maki

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

Interviewee Bio

Dr. Richard Hiromichi Kosaki (born September 14, 1924) was raised, educated, and has lived most of his life in Honolulu, Hawai`i. During World War II he served in the Military Intelligence Service, first as an instructor, then for several years in Japan as an interpreter during the Occupation. He graduated from the University of Hawai`i in 1948, then received his Masters and Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota.

Returning to the University of Hawai`i to teach political science, he embarked on a distinguished career there that included positions as Vice President for Community Colleges, Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Chancellor of the West Oahu College, Acting Chancellor for the University of Hawai`i at Mānoa, and President of Tokai International University in Honolulu. Along the way, he helped found the East-West Center, and was the architect of the University of Hawai`i’s community college system. His favorite maxim is the cornerstone of his educational philosophy: “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.”

Dr. Kosaki is married to Mildred (Doi) Kosaki. Their son Randall was born in 1962. (March 19, 2004)