Densho Digital Archive - Kenji Ogawa Interview (denshovh-okenji

<Begin Segment 3>

KL: Let's see, so we'll do kind of the same thing for your mom's side of the family. What was her name? What was her name?

KO: My mom? Yoshiye Ogawa.

KL: Do you know her maiden name?

KO: Yoshiye Hajime.

KL: Would you spell that, Hajime?

Off camera: H-A-J-I-M-E.

KL: And the date I have is 1919 for her birth, does that sound about right?

KO: Yeah.

KL: And tell us again, I know you said it earlier, but where was she born?

KO: She was born Hilo, Hawaii. And her parents, they have four... three sister and one boy.

KL: Do you know where your mom falls in that order? Was she the oldest?

KO: She's second.

KL: Do you know the names of her siblings?

KO: No.

KL: But she was the second oldest?

KO: Yeah.

KL: And she had two sisters or three?

KO: Three.

KL: Three sisters and one brother?

KO: Yeah.

KL: And what did she tell you about what it was like to grow up in Hilo?

KO: Oh, her parents used to work in the director Hitchcock, housekeeper.

KL: In Hilo?

KO: Yeah. They said they are filthy rich, Hitchcock. The family, you know, not just the director, whole family was a rich family.

KL: I didn't know they had Hawaiian connections.

KO: Yeah.

KL: Were they from Hawaii?

KO: Yeah, they were from Hawaii.

Off camera: They had a place in Hawaii.

KO: Yeah, you know, like a family, they said treat like a family. So, well, ten years ago, they're sending a letter together. So the brother said, "Come over San Jose." The one brother lived in San Jose, but can't find them.

KL: Your mother's brother?

KO: No, no, of the Hitchcock, director. His parents said, "You go see him, I bet you you'll get a good job." So looking for him. [Laughs]

KL: Whatever...

KO: No way. He's so big.

KL: How was Hitchcock as an employer?

KO: Huh?

KL: How was Hitchcock as an employer? Was he a good boss, was he nice?

KO: Oh, yeah, like a family he said, like a family. So nice. My mom said Hitchcock was a little weird. [Laughs]

KL: I can believe that.

KO: Yeah, you know, that's a director, funny, crazy.

KL: What kind of work did her parents do for him?

KO: Housekeeper. They said, boy, they treated family. They went to Japan, they sent a letter, all the greet, send to Japan. "Make sure coming back, you're going to see us." But we never have a chance to see. You know, those days, he's so big, no connection.

KL: Did your mom know both of her parents, were they still living during her childhood, and did they both work for Hitchcock?

KO: Uh-huh. They said it was so close to that family, brother and sister.

KL: Did they do any other kind of work while she was growing up or did they work for him for years?

KO: Just that family.

KL: Did she like Hawaii? What did she say about it?

KO: I guess so, she liked Hawaii. But we came this way, we stopped by Hawaii, but we never have a chance to meet the Hitchcock family.