Densho Digital Repository - Ron Kenmotsu Interview (Densho ID: ddr-densho-546-13)

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TI: So when you talked about, after high school, deciding to go into the service, into the army, so you went to the recruiting office, volunteered. And you talked about earlier that it was the first time that you had to go through the... you had to actually let people know that you were Ota instead of Kenmotsu. But it was also about this time then you decided to officially be adopted as a Kenmotsu, right?

RK: Well, my mom sent me a letter when I was still in basic saying that, "You're gonna have to be in the city to sign adoption papers. This is when I was eighteen, yeah, you had to be eighteen to officially sign the adoption papers. But it was like, I had to be at the courthouse at, I forgot, nine o'clock or something like that. So that means I had to catch a, somehow get into the city from Fort Ord, which is the basic training camp. But the buses don't run until nine, so it was like how the heck am I going to get into the city? So I hitchhiked into the city. Some guy happened to see me and just pulled over and he goes, "I'll give you a ride." So from there, he dropped me off at the bus station, so then from there, I took a bus to the courthouse where I signed the papers.

TI: Now, what was your thinking about the official adoption? I mean, were things like, I guess one question is, that you might ask, is why didn't it happen earlier? Why didn't they officially adopt you when you were younger, would be one question, and two, why did you decide to... because now you're going around with Ota, why not be Ota? I mean, what were you thinking? Why go through the official adoption?

RK: First of all, I didn't know anything about the Ota family, I only knew one family, and that's the way I grew up, just the one family. I didn't know anything about the Ota family at all. So to keep things straight, I just changed my name to Kenmotsu.

TI: So who started that process in terms of someone had to...

RK: Well, my mom talked to the judge, and they set the date, whatever day it was.

TI: But you knew about this, this was okay with you, you said, "Yes, let's do it"?

RK: Yeah, because my mom let me know what she was going to do, so I said, okay, that's fine. I only know one family, there's no sense in me having a name that I don't know anything about.

TI: And when you were younger, when you had the ulcers, you talked about feeling like no one wanted you. So at this point, did you feel like, "Oh, no, I'm a Kenmotsu, and this is my family, and this where I belong"?

RK: Well, I think going into the military kind of changed my way of thinking a little bit. Calm down, don't hold any grudges, just live your life the way you want to live it, but live it under the Kenmotsu name.