Densho Digital Archive - Richard Konda Interview (denshovh-krichard

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Tom Izu: So maybe we can talk more about that, but when you helped found the Nihonmachi Outreach Committee, and it was specifically -- my remembrance was that it was specifically about development issues in San Jose in the future of Japantown or what happened to it, and would it get bulldozed over like parts of San Francisco or Los Angeles. What made you get involved in that? I mean, you were involved in Asian Law Alliance, Asian American politics, so what made you concerned about that as an issue in particular?

RK: You know, it just seemed like it was something that I should do. I can't, I'm trying to remember why, what kind of motivated me at that point. It was just like there were a group of people that started to get together and meet and talk about these things, and I think we actually used to meet at the ALA office for some of the meetings. And it just seemed like something that -- again, being from San Francisco and kind of understanding what had happened there, and just being a little worried that this similar kind of thing might happen here, just seemed like something I should do.

Tom Izu: And you worked with other Japanese American community groups, and was there a lot of support for what you did with this whole redevelopment issue? Was there some conflicts about that, like what the future will be? It seems like there probably were issues like, "Well, maybe Japantown should be fixed up some. Maybe we should bulldoze parts of it."

RK: Right.

Tom Izu: Because the Nihonmachi Outreach Committee has this word "outreach" in it, so it had this sort of perspective on what it was trying to do.

RK: Right. Yeah, I mean, it seemed like there were some different opinions around that, but I think as kind of young, idealistic group of people, we just kind of forged ahead and tried to let people know that this is kind of the process, and we need people to kind of know or understand what's going on.

TI: And just from a historical -- I just want to make sure I understand -- what year, about when was Nihonmachi Outreach Committee formed?

RK: So I believe it was '79 and thereabouts, in that timeframe. And so what occurred is Nihonmachi Outreach Committee was doing this kind of outreach around possible redevelopment. At the same time, there was another kind of, some of the same members were part of the Tule Lake Committee that was doing Tule Lake kind of pilgrimages. And at some point, at least in the San Jose area, kind of, the groups kind of eventually merged together. And the people that were doing Tule Lake kind of became part of the Nihonmachi Outreach Committee, and then eventually NOC took up the pilgrimages, the Day of Remembrance, and a lot of the redress work.

TI: So it's quite a range then. So it's pilgrimages, redress, as well as the redevelopment of the Nihonmachi. And it seems like they're... what's the right word? I mean, I guess maybe areas of, perhaps, maybe dissension in terms of where should the organization focus.

RK: I mean, the way it practically worked is that the redevelopment issue just kind of faded away. There was like a study done, and it didn't, it never really happened. And so at that point, NOC kind of shifted focus to Day of Remembrance programs, pilgrimages, and then eventually the redress. I mean, the redress work was a long, long process.