Densho Digital Archive
Manzanar National Historic Site Collection
Title: Hope Omachi Kawashima Interview
Narrator: Hope Omachi Kawashima
Interviewer: Kristen Luetkemeier
Location: Fresno, California
Date: September 10, 2014
Densho ID: denshovh-khope-01-0033

<Begin Segment 33>

KL: I just have really one more question, and then if there are things that you want to bring up or that Mark wants to hear about... so when, I mentioned to you when we first started talking about this interview, that parts of Tule Lake are part of the National Park Service now and there's a private foundation developing a museum at Topaz, and I wonder what you would like to see at those places. What do you, what do you hope will be at Topaz and Tule Lake for visitors to come see in ten or fifty or one hundred years? What do you want people to remember about those places?

HK: Well, to tell you the truth, my sister still has my mother's piano in her garage and she keeps asking me, "Where can we send this?" She says," Can we send it to some kind of memorial or something?" I said, "Well, I think they're still working on it." So I'd like to see the piano at either Tule Lake or Topaz, if that's possible, because it did play a significant role, I think, for the internees to be able to have worship service and recreation and dances and recitals and programs and so forth. So I think it played an important role, and it's something that has historical value.

KL: Yeah, it sure sounds like it did. I was really struck by that, the travels of that piano.

HK: It traveled all over the country.

KL: Yeah, and I'm sure a lot of people heard it while they were there, too. Anything else that you want to share with us?

HK: Well, as I said, I have a lot of pictures, if you wanted to see the pictures.

KL: Yeah, I definitely want to see those.

HK: But...

KL: Maybe we'll just leave this set up, we'll turn it off and stop it, and then we'll look at the pictures and then if there's anything else that comes out of that conversation, we'll be ready to record a couple more minutes if need be. Does that sound like, sound okay?

HK: That sounds good.

KL: Is there, in case we don't come back to it, is there, is there anything I left out that you think is important about your family's story, or your own, and the legacy of these places?

HK: Well, I can't recall anything now, probably come up later. Because we covered so much here.

KL: Yeah. Well, thank you so much for your time, and for sort of the exhaustive responses that you gave and for agreeing to this. I really, really appreciate it, and I suspect that others that may view this recording, strangers to all of us, in future generations or times, will appreciate being able to hear...

HK: Well, hopefully it'll be helpful so that other people won't have to go through what we went through, especially as American citizens. That's the thing. But of course, war causes hysteria, people do crazy things.

KL: I did want to ask you, actually, if there had been any other times in your life that reminded you of the early '40s. I know you were a kid in the '40s, but has there been a time later in your life that you've been reminded or concerned that this, there's a possibility of something similar developing?

HK: Just whenever someone kind of makes a racist comment, then it always brings back some of those old feelings. Can you believe one of my college professors told me that I can't play the violin because my ears are too Asian? Because I wanted to learn to play the violin, 'cause my sisters played it and I thought it'd be fun to play the violin, and he just outright told me, "You can't play the violin. Your ears are too Asian." And so I was so upset, I said, well, then I'll just go play the organ. So I learned the organ, which of course --

KL: From a different teacher.

HK: [Laughs] (Yes), from a different teacher, right. And then when we retired here in Fresno, I heard about the string class and (the professor) used to be the concertmaster for the Fresno Philharmonic, (and) was teaching a class and that they wanted more string players, so I said, "Can I learn the violin in your class?" And I said, "I already read music from the piano and organ." And he says, "Sure, give it a try." And so I joined the class, (also) my husband had been trying to play the string bass, so he learned (and) wanted to improve his string bass, so we still go every week for our string class and enjoy playing our string instruments. But I was so mad when that teacher told me, "You can't do it." I said I'm gonna do it anyway. [Laughs] So whenever someone comes up with that type of remark, I always say you have no right to say something like that, to anybody. So I think it's very important what people say to other people, (if) they're (...) basing it on racial feelings, because people are very sensitive to that. We have to all learn to get along with each other, so there's no use criticizing each other.

KL: Well, thank you.

<End Segment 33> - Copyright © 2014 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.