<Begin Segment 14>

PW: I'd like to go over your, your involvement with ikebana and especially the Ikenobo Society. Can you tell me about what happened in 1964?

SK: Well, my high school teacher was coming to New York World's Fair, this is what I got the letter from my friend: "So if you could go and greet the teacher, she will be happy." So I ask Bob, "I got the friend from the letter and Suzuki-sensei's coming to New York World's Fair. Can I go and see?" So Bob says, "Okay, go ahead." And I went to the airport, and all the Japanese Ikenobo teacher about twenty, twenty, twenty-five came, at the airport. And I said, "Suzuki-sensei," and she look at me. For her, she's in my class, is from the, one from the United States, one from Canada. So she was thinking, and looking at me up and down, you know, and, "Oh, Hide-san." And she hugged me and she started to cry. I don't know what to do. [Laughs] And that way I went to the, help all the teachers for, to take to the restaurant and take to the florist, and like Expo place. It was so hot... that was, I think, July or August. But they stayed about, not ten days. I think I thought it was two weeks, or I was staying two weeks. And not a hotel, but we all stayed. And my Ikenobo, ikebana started from that, involve with, and I saw all the professor came from Japan. If you were in Japan, you'll never see those professors. And the headmaster was young, I don't think he married yet.

PW: But he was there in New York?

SK: Uh-huh, and Uncle, Uncle was looking after the, headmaster's mother's brother was looking after Ikenobo because the headmaster's father died quite early. And so anyway... oh, Canada, Toronto, he said, "Open a chapter. Kanada hitotsu wa nai kara, open a chapter." So I couldn't say yes or no. I said, "Mada chibun demo sokomatte ittemasen." I said, "I'm not that thing. You know, I have to do the study first," I said. "Well, come to the Japan. You don't have to pay tuition fee or anything, I'll look after. You come and study. Tokyo Ocha No Mizu Gakuin and Kyoto. So always had a class there, so one finish, you go to Kyoto, and Kyoto finish, you come back to Tokyo again." This is what... but at that time, so of course, I can't do right now, but I was young, so... [laughs] But young, but I was, I think I was forty. Forty years old, because it's forty years. Maybe it's thirty. So anyway, I came home, I didn't say I would go over or not. And talked to Bob first, and Bob said, "If they say that much, why don't you go so you could have a study?" So I talked to, dinnertime I talked to Dad, Father. "Oh, sonna ii hanashi. Kitakoto nai. Hai, ikinasai, ikinasai. So I said, "Donna dosuru ka to omote shimpai." My father-in-law said, "Sonna koto shinpai sen. Papa ga iru desho, Papa ga." [Laughs]

PW: What she's saying in English is saying that when he, when she was discussing the offer with her husband and her father-in-law, the father-in-law said, "You'll never get such an offer like that. You got to go, and you should go," and encouraged you to go.

SK: Yes, I went. And my gosh, at New York, too, I don't know how to get on the subway. Right now, if I go to New York now, I don't know how to get on the subway. But that time, I get on the subway, I went to the floors, with my English, I went through. So, and father-in-law, well, another thing is that those teachers take to the lunch, or supper was in, I think it was hotel. So lunch, "What do you want to eat?" So they always, "What do we want to eat?" And drinking, you know, like soft drink is summertime, so they said, "Coke, Coke, Coke." Oh, so I ordered a Coke and everything, and they all left the Coke. I said, "If you don't drink, why did you order the Coke?" "Only I know the Coke." [Laughs] So I said, "Why, there's 7-UP, too." So after that, they order 7-UP, but before, they only know the Coke so they, they didn't like it, but they thought it's only, they want the Coke. [Laughs] And when, by the time I order and then when I sit down and eat, everybody's going out from the door, so I never finished my lunch (order). [Laughs] And Professor Yujiku-sensei, this is a elderly teacher, and he, he was doing the rikka, and I didn't know that rikka, those days. Never woman could do the rikka. 1964, you know how the ikebana came, so anyway, he said he's gonna do the taisaku with pine. So everybody have to go out and that Professor Fujiwara said, "Kadoguchi-san, dake nokorinasai. Stay back," you know, so I said, "Oh. (Watashi dake) stay back?" Of course, the helper was there, couple, you know. But I heard afterwards, "How come she could, she's the only one could learn? Jibun tachi mada naratte nai no. Jibun tachi mo oshiete moraitai noni. Kadoguchi-san dake, tokubetsu sensei, tokubetsu atsukai ni shita." I felt so bad after that. [Laughs]

PW: What she said, translated into English is that in those days, in 1964, this particular style of ikebana called rikka?

SK: Rikka.

PW: Rikka, was not taught to women, but only men did it. So when they were doing the demonstration, this senior professor said, "Well, you ladies go to the side, but only Mrs. Kadoguchi stays." And then she was able to do the rikka with the professor. Afterwards, she heard that the other ladies were very ticked off because, "Why did this lady get special privilege to participate in the rikka arrangement?" And so, so even from the early periods, I guess Mrs. Kadoguchi had a very special place at Ikenobo family of, of teachers. So then what happened after you came back and you got the encouragement with your husband and your father-in-law, who agreed to look after your children?

SK: So my friends, they all said, "Okay, let's start ikebana. You learned that much, now you could teach." Before that, I was just teaching a little thing for my friends, but came back, they want to learn, so I start to teach. And Cultural Centre was coming to start, and that they want a ikebana class there, open, so every day, Monday, Tuesday to Friday, they had a different school started. And I was in Wednesday class right through, and Bob was working there. Bob doesn't want everybody to say, "Oh, there's a wife there, so special, she..." so I'm the only one left, but what can you do? Everybody coming, we can't say, "Others, class people didn't come back," at the Cultural Centre. And Sogetsu, two teacher was young and their family, so got pregnant and they can't come out to teach anymore. So end up I was only one Ikenobo. And Wednesday was, bingo was starting at the Cultural Centre. It was so noisy and the smoke -- [laughs] -- so we changed to Tuesday night, because that smoke bothers us so much. You know, downstairs we are doing, but still, upstairs has that bingo, the smoke and noisy, and start right through the Cultural Centre, teaching. In the meantime, I'm going back to Japan every year. Come to think of it, Bob and father-in-law was so good to me, that's why I get through this ikebana.

<End Segment 14> - Copyright © 2005 Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre and Densho. All Rights Reserved.