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BY: All right. So as a Sansei, you did not experience incarceration yourself. But many people believe there's, in this idea of intergenerational trauma, which can be manifested in things like mental illness, drug and alcohol addiction, violent behavior, suicide, things like that. The idea that that intergenerational trauma is passed from generation to generation. What do you think of this idea? Do you think there's truth in it? Do you have any kind of personal experience, either friends, family, with that?

KY: I think there's a lot of truth to that. If I think about it, I think the way that it manifested itself in me was a hyper vigilance. When I walked into a room, I would always look for, are there people of color? Are there any Japanese? Looking for bias, looking for times when I'm treated differently and wondering, is it because I'm of the "other"?

BY: What do you think about the "model minority" myth? You've shared a little bit about that, but what do you think? Do you agree with it, do you disagree with it?

KY: Absolutely not. [Laughs] You know, I could see how my parents' generation, that the "model minority" would have been great, because that's exactly how society wanted them to be. "Be the quiet Americans, obey the law, don't make waves, stick to your own kind." But that doesn't work for... you can't live up to this model minority in terms of... and I certainly can't. I mean, if I feel like someone has done an injustice, I have to speak up. Or conversely, "model minority" being, sort of overcoming some of these things. It sort of negates the trauma or whatever. And you're still a minority, right? [Laughs]

BY: Yeah, you can't get away from that. Okay. All right, any last things that you would like to share, thoughts or other ideas?

KY: You know, I think the only thing that I feel like I need to do is, number one, to thank you, Barb, for -- you know this has, like, been homework, you know, taking a test on myself. But really, it has given me the opportunity to do a lot of reflection, to really take stock. And it's almost like putting together your own eulogy, but yay, I'm still alive. [Laughs] But I appreciate that because I don't think up until now, I had really taken the time to think about who has impacted my life, who has influenced my life, why do I do the things that I do and why am I the way that I am? And then also to thank Densho, too. Because you know, I think really my grandfather probably didn't feel like anyone would want to know his story or even both sets of grandparents and my parents, that their story was unique in any way. But I think he should know, he always felt like he was thrown away, he'd say, "Suterareta." Because at the end of the war, he had plans to go back to Japan. But word came back, you can't come back here, and then they were from just outside of Hiroshima. I mean, they're suffering, so no, don't come back. So he was turned away from Japan, he was turned away from America, and yet he still lived every day being grateful for what he could do for his family, the sacrifices that he made. And I think what Densho is doing is allowing literally thousands of people to share their story and to pay sort of, not tribute, but to honor the past, because we are living (as a result of) the sacrifices that they made. And we're doing okay. [Laughs] We're doing okay. So I think it's our part to then make sure that their stories are preserved for the future.

BY: Thank you so much.

KY: No, thank you.

<End Segment 14> - Copyright © 2023 Densho. All Rights Reserved.