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AH: You were brought up in a little villa, born as well, I guess, brought up in a little village outside of Lahaina.

WY: Right.

AH: What was the name of that village, and what was it like in terms of the lifestyle there?

WY: The name of the place called Olowalu -- O-W-A-L-U -- Olowalu. And they had only two stores, I remember. But when we were kids, when we were growing up, the good thing about that place was, see, you look to the left was the ocean; you look to the right was the mountain. And so we had, you could go to the beach and swim or go to the mountain and hiking. And so it was a terrific experience for us.

AH: What was the population like in that area?

WY: I would say, when we were kids, they had their own sugar mill at that time. But the population, I would say maybe, maybe 2,000.

AH: And what was the ethnic breakdown of the population?

WY: Well, I think they had more Filipinos there. There's Hawaiians and, naturally, Japanese. But, I think half was more Filipinos -- they used to work in the cane fields, you know. So we got to know all our friends were all mixed -- you know, Hawaiians, Filipino, Chinese, Japanese. It was something that I thought was really great for us, you grow up like that.

AH: How far was the village from Lahaina?

WY: Six miles. From Olowalu to Lahaina was 6 miles. So, we used to go to school there and we had a bus going to school every day, bring us back, you know.

AH: Among the Japanese that were in that area, were a large percentage of them from Okinawa?

WY: No, not that much, not that much. I would say more Japanese, not that much Okinawans there.

AH: Now that you're familiar with Okinawan cuisine and it's a very special sort of thing, I've been looking around here for some of those purple sweet potatoes they have and things. Did your family eat cuisine that was recognizably Okinawan?

WY: No, my family, see, because my mother was Japanese.

AH: So it was only your father that was...

WY: Yeah, my father was Okinawan, my mother was Japanese. So, the food we had on the table was all Japanese food. So, I remember one time, my father took me to -- when I was a little boy -- took me to his friend's house. And they would speak Okinawan and the accent was real different. I couldn't, I couldn't understand him. I was so surprised that, you know, thinking, "What kind of language are they talking?" Because I just hear Japanese but not Okinawan, see? But later, actually, you realize that they have their own language.

AH: Well, I was remiss in not asking you where in Japan your grandparents, your maternal grandparents, came from. Did they come from the same prefecture, your grandmother and grandpa on your mother's side?

WY: On my mother's side? Yeah, they, they came from Hiroshima.

AH: Okay.

WY: They came from Hiroshima, and then, then I don't know what year they came, but they came to Hawaii and started to work in Maui.

AH: And did you ever take any pilgrimages back to Hiroshima to try to find out things about that side of the family?

WY: I never did go back and check about my mother's side. I just had a chance of going to Okinawa, so I got to meet my parents', but I really didn't go back and check on something like that.

<End Segment 4> - Copyright © 2003 Japanese American National Museum. All Rights Reserved.