The Gift: An Interview with June Hiroko Arakawa

Abstract

By the 1920s, many first-generation Okinawan immigrants in Hawai'i were faced with the problem of how provide both a Japanese education and an American one for their Hawai'i-born children. Parents would usually send their children Japanese-language school in Hawai'i. In addition, some would send one or more of them Okinawa or mainland Japan for Nihon ryugaku; that is, studying in Japan. It was also not unusual for many first generation Okinawan immigrants send their children for kuchiberashi; that is, to reduce the number of mouths feed. In Okinawa, children could live with grandparents inexpensively; parents could remain in Hawai'i meanwhile, working earn money for their own return. The Nisei children (whether Japanese or Okinawan) who were educated in Japan and who later returned Hawai'i were referred as Kibei Nisei. Often they had problems assimilating back into the community after re turning from Japan, especially if they had been sent Okinawa or mainland Japan at an early age and had lived there for most of their youth. During the 1920s and 1930s, approximately three thousand Okinawan Kibei who had grown up in Okinawa returned Hawai'i. Many Kibei Nisei who returned the Islands in the late 1930s and early 1940s?when rumors of war in the Pacific were spreading?were suspected of being pro-Japanese and there fore disloyal the United States. It was presumed that, during their time in Japan, they had been indoctrinated in the militarism associated with emperor worship. Some Okinawan Kibei used their experiences living in Okinawa or mainland Japan help the local Okinawan community develop a sense of pride in its distinct cultural heritage, and bridge differences among the Japanese in Hawai'i. What follows is a profile of June Hiroko Arakawa, an Okinawan Kibei Nisei who became well known in Hawai'i for her kindness and contribu tions the Okinawan community. I met Mrs. Arakawa when I arrived in Hawai'i in 2004 as an Obuchi Scholarship student from Okinawa. She was seventy-nine years old at the time and still an active leader in the Okinawan community. She welcomed me into her home, and I interviewed her several