Densho Digital Archive
Densho Visual History Collection
Title: Genro Kashiwa Interview
Narrator: Genro Kashiwa
Interviewer: Brian Niiya
Location: Honolulu, Hawaii
Date: February 20, 2012
Densho ID: denshovh-kgenro-01-0012

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BN: Now, you weren't able to get enough points to be discharged right away.

GK: Yeah.

BN: So what did you do for the next few months?

GK: Oh, we were housed in a, you know the tents, big tents. And I don't know what we did, but we were housed there, and I didn't have enough points. Eighty points, I think, and you had to have eighty-five. Well, when I received word that I got a Silver Medal for that Folgorito thing, that was five points, so I had eighty-five points. So I was one of the first guys to go back home.

BN: And then you mentioned that when you got back, you found out that your family wasn't in Waialua.

GK: Yeah.

BN: Did you end up rejoining the family?

GK: Yeah. But at the temple, my family lived there. But I got my GI Bill of Rights, (for) five years (of education). So I went to University of Michigan, two years undergrad and three years law school. So GI Bill really helped me. Otherwise I couldn't afford that.

BN: Did you, when you returned, did you talk to your father about his internment period and what was his...

GK: I didn't talk very much with him.

BN: So you must not have been in Hawaii very long then before you went to Michigan?

GK: I don't know whether I finished sophomore at UH, but I had five years of free education, so I went.

BN: I know in Senator Inouye's book, he recounts his discussions with... I forget who it was now. Anyway, about how, going off and serving in the 442nd and being wounded, it changed his attitude towards what he felt was possible in Hawaii. Did you come back changed? Did you feel politicized or empowered after what you had done in Europe?

GK: Oh, yes. Because the community attitude changed. We were second class citizens, but after we came back from the war, 442nd, the attitude towards us changed. It's no longer second class citizens. Like before the war, during the war, when I went to work USED, United States Engineering Department, and we had a black badge restriction. So after the war, nothing like that.

BN: And the black badge was just Japanese had to wear, the black badge.

GK: Yeah. Restricted so you cannot go in anywhere.

BN: What made you pursue law specifically?

GK: Oh. Well, my brother was a lawyer, and he went to University of Michigan, so I had five years of education, so I used, I was a sophomore when the war started. I went to Michigan two years undergrad, graduated, and went three years law school.

BN: And then came back?

GK: Uh-huh.

BN: Were you active in the 442nd organization after the war?

GK: At first, no, because I was too busy with my law practice. But after I retired, I'm very active in the veterans club. And I go to a meeting, L Company meeting once a month, but very few nowadays.

BN: Did you ever talk to your father about the internment, his experiences?

GK: No. Because, like I say, he was interested in going back to Japan. He said he wants to help my sister up there. And even before the war, we never talked to him. It's my mother that controlled everything.

BN: But then she passed away.

GK: Yeah.

BN: Then what happened to the sister that was in camp?

GK: Oh. She got married to a haole GI in Japan.

BN: After the war?

GK: Yeah. And then she had two children, I think.

BN: But eventually came back here?

GK: No.

BN: The mainland?

GK: No, here.

<End Segment 12> - Copyright &copy; 2012 Densho. All Rights Reserved.