<Begin Segment 18>

BN: And you're at UH, and then at some point you go to DOE.

JK: Yes.

BN: So how does that...

JK: Okay. I went to DOE first because somebody had... okay, no, that's another story. Oh. When I had my two boys stayed (at) home, I realized how important elementary school teachers were. I was on the college level working with college students. And by then, and especially these guys had gone off to war, they're trying to circumvent policies, and they would argue about the policies. But, you know, if you want to really (affect) children, you've got to go down. So my goal was to go down to kindergarten. And so I went to school, back to school, and then I told Mary Musgrove, who was in charge of early elementary, I said, "Mary, I want to go into K." And she says, "You'll never make it." See, you cannot go from college level to kindergarten or even first grade. I said, "I can, I'll show it to you." She said no. So she put me in sixth grade. So I went down as far as third grade, but one day, when I was... I went as a special education teacher (to Ma'ema'e), teaching language arts (to) the whole (student body). And anyway, one day the principal came to me and said, "Do you want to take on a first grade class?" And I said, "That's what I've been asking for." And she said, "Well, Mrs. Rodriguez is held up in traffic. Could you go and open her classroom?" I said, "Sure, I'd be glad to." I went. She used to come collecting lunch money. She said, "First grade, you've got to open the windows." You know, (...) upper grades, (the students) open the windows for you. She said, "First grade, you have to open the windows." And that's how I learned that I was not good for the lower grades. [Laughs]

BN: Before, you said that you didn't want to be a teacher.

JK: No, because they studied too hard. I was there (at UH) to have a good time.

BN: But was it mainly having your own children that changed your...

JK: Yes. I realized the importance of elementary grades, and the lower the better. Because they're listening to you and you can mold them. But by the time they get to college, forget it, and especially if they've been to war.

BN: So how old were your boys when you went back to...

JK: School? I was in my thirties. But they had what's called an accelerated teacher training program, and there were several of us who were older. And so the younger ones thought that we were smart, and we thought that the younger ones were smart. Because we brought experiences and they brought academic learning. So it was a good combination, stimulating one another. I've some very good memories of that.

BN: And from there you went to?

JK: I taught (...) sixth grade. I went to Hickam, and that's military. They put me in a big, big Quonset that had been used as a theater, and I had a stage, and my voice wouldn't carry. [Laughs] So there were problems there. Then one of the questions that I still remember is... I tried to introduce myself to the classes, and I said, "I'm an Asian." And the kids said, "Asian, you Japanese?" "Yes, I'm Japanese." "That means (you're of the) yellow race?" "Yellow race." "But your face is not yellow." I said, "What do you mean? What kind of yellow are you talking about?" He pointed to the paint jar. [Laughs] I have that kind of memories, very fond memories of teaching.

BN: So these are kids that have never seen...

JK: He had never. (Before) Hickam, he had never seen an Asian. And then he said, "Like that color?" "No, you come and I'll show you my hand and your hand. Let's put (them) side by side, and then you can see the yellow cast." "Oh." [Laughs] Teaching is such a joy.

BN: And what other schools did you teach at?

JK: I taught at Hickam, I taught at Maiemai. Those were the only two schools. I did my practice teaching at Liliuokalani.

BN: Right out here.

JK: Yeah, Kaimuki. And that's all that I went to. I was longest at Ma'ema'e. I put in twenty-four-and-a-half years. And then that's when my husband told me, "Retire." Because our two boys had completed college and the third one was in college. He had finished college while I worked. So he said, "It's your time to go to school." I said, "What for?" He said, "Get a PhD in education." So I left work, but I thought, maybe I'll go into law, not to be a lawyer, but to use that as a basis for understanding all kinds of things. And (then I) said, "No, give me one year." So I took aikido for one year, every morning. And then... oh, shucks, you know. Then I took care of my mom, and then Hideto said, "Come and work on the gallery." That's how I got involved.

BN: So you didn't go back. So you never did go back to school.

JK: I did, but I went back into the teacher training program.

BN: No, but I mean after you retired, when your husband said, "Get your PhD."

JK: Yeah.

BN: So you didn't go back.

JK: No, I did not. Instead of that, I became involved here.

BN: Throughout this whole time, your husband was...

JK: Managing the store.

BN: The business still. And then what was the fate of the business? It didn't stay in, did you stay in Aala?

JK: No. He moved from Aala because it was part of a reconstruction area, the whole building was torn down. Besides that, his building was not the same building as our store. They were in a wooden structure. He had I don't know how many, 35,000 square feet or something, but he had to relocate. And that's when he was already the manager of the store. So he relocated to several places, and he finally ended up, he was on Beretania, and he was at another place, and then he finally relocated to Aiea Shopping Center, because the space was big enough for him. It's not like (other stores), you know, (for) furniture you need lots of space. And so he ended up there, and then one day he said, "I think I'm going to close the store." Because he was thinking about retirement, and he said, he asked the kids -- we had a big meeting -- asked the kids whether (they) wanted to continue the store, and none of the kids (were interested), "We see you working too hard, no thank you." Actually, it was only two of them. And so he says, "Well, there's no sense in my working. I see changes coming on in the business community, and I'm not trained for that kind of changes. So I may as well quit while the going is good." And he had offers (from) people (wanting) to buy the store, but he did not, Levitz, for example, wanted to buy him out, and Levitz is a big mainland chain. But he said no, he would sell only to a local. And there weren't any takers, so he just closed up the store. And the minute he closed up, another store said, "Can you come and work for us?" He said, "Why would I?" [Laughs] But he served as the consultant (...) for Serta mattress, which was opening up retail outlets.

BN: What year did he close?

JK: I don't know. '80s? He said that business is going to be -- he sees that the way business is being done is going to be very different, and he's not up to it. Besides, he's getting older. So he played golf. He golfed after that, every morning. At five o'clock, they all met at Pali Golf Course. And so he would be home by eight-thirty or nine.

BN: And then he'd have all day.

JK: And then he had all day, but then he was asked to come in as consultant. They said, "Any time you want." So he would go at ten o'clock or ten-thirty, oh, help them one hour, have lunch, and come home. [Laughs] Good deal.

<End Segment 18> - Copyright © 2012 Densho. All Rights Reserved.