Densho Digital Repository - Katsugo Miho Interview I (Densho ID: ddr-densho-1022-1-6)

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MN: You've told us that through the Japanese language school, you got some shushin, you also got exposed to certain values through the Japanese movies, the silent movies.

KM: Oh, certainly.

MN: What about the Buddhist temples or the Shinto temple?

KM: Buddhist temples and Shinto temples did this in a way because they had regular days of different celebration. New Year's you all, the whole, basically the whole camp went to the Shinto shrine, you know, and throughout the year, they would have various different ceremonies. And even today, when you have to, you get your child blessed, you go to the Shinto shrine, well those days, almost all of us, all the families went through the ritual of blessing of the child. The Shinto ritual in Buddhist church, well, Buddhist church is religious what-you-call, supposedly Shinto is not as religiously geared as the Buddhism. But they lived side by side. In fact, the Shinto church was right behind the Buddhist church. But they had so many different cultural functions going on that it predominated the social life of the AJA community.

WN: Did the Buddhist church have some say in the running of the Japanese school?

KM: Not in Kahului. In Kahului, the Buddhist church was Buddhist church, Hongwanji was Hongwanji. Japanese school was, had its own board of directors, non-Buddhist church, the priests had nothing, the minister had nothing to do with the Japanese school. A lot of other communities, the only teachers you had were the Buddhist priests, and they, like Hongwanji, Honolulu, you had the church, and then it developed into a Japanese school because the priest taught Japanese.

WN: Or the wife, the wife did.

KM: Yeah. I don't know whether they were fully qualified as teachers. Unlike my father, he was brought up as a school teacher, but the priests, I don't know, most of the priests, I don't think they were so-called schoolteachers, they were priests, number one.

MN: And then for your family, were they formal members of any religion, your mom and dad and your family when you were a child?

KM: I remember when I grew up going to a Buddhist church, temple, I used to go to Buddhist. Somehow, like, the process of Americanization, I think, is what happened. At a certain age, a lot of us moved over to the Christian church. And I think the English schools had a lot of influence in this regard. Because I remember, well, let's put it this way. You know how you can tell... the story that I use, how can tell the difference between Kats Miho, Paul Miho, Katsuichi Miho? What does it tell you? Katsugo Miho is either first generation or second generation, Paul Miho is either second or third generation, because when, my generation, when we started to go to school, all of us were two names, Japanese name and English name. On the way, the English school teachers greatly influenced the kids to pick up, "Oh, you should get an English name." And so a whole lot of second generation started to get the English names like my brother Paul. And thereafter from us, anybody with English name, you more or less can guarantee that they'll be third generation or fourth generation.

MN: Why is it that you don't have an English name?

KM: I never did get impressed for the need of an English name. And I guess my teachers never did try to influence me. I don't recall being, you know, asked to add on. Although, sometimes along the way, I think, you know, I was asked, or suggested you pick out an English name. But it wasn't too much of a pressure, they didn't insist on it, it was merely a suggestion.

WN: So your teachers had no problem saying "Katsugo"?

KM: I don't think they call you by our first name. I think they always me called "Miho," I think, the teachers referred them. I don't know, I don't recall. I don't recall this now.

WN: They said a lot of teachers are the ones that named the Nisei.

KM: That's right, very true. A lot of teachers, a lot of the teachers gave the names, you know, but even today, you see that most of the second generation don't have an English name. Now with the newcomers from Japan, so you have a lot of people who have only two names, but you can easily guess that, with the two names, it's invariably new immigrant or first generation.