The Hawaii Nikkei Legacy

Generations are counted differently in Japan.

Issei are the 1st immigrants to the country and considered the 1st generation.
Nisei are the children of the Issei, the 2nd generation.
Sansei are the 3rd generation. That's Art and me.
Our children are yonsei (4th generation). Our grandchildren are gosei (5th generation).

One of my zumba friends asked us to support an exhibit called the The Hawaii Nikkei Legacy.

I thought they meant Nisei since a lot of what was there centered on the Nisei generation.

I asked mom, who told me that Nikkei means "of Japanese ancestry who live outside Japan."

The minimalist exhibit was in a bare room with poster boards highlighting the experiences and struggles of the Japanese Issei and Nisei in Hawaii and mainland.

There was a small table with artifacts that I was surprised to see I could remember!

I may be sansei, but we used all those things.

It could be because we grew up quite poor on a sugar cane plantation.

I remember my mother having me practice how to write the Japanese alphabet.

I remember those bean bags we made with some kind of Hawaiian seeds. I could juggle three at once.

And yes! Marbles!

My brother was quite good at it. I think I just liked the colors and tried to win those.

Those lunch boxes always had rice and some pickles in them.

My paternal grandmother told me stories of having to work in the sugar cane fields with a baby strapped to her back. She said she often couldn't change the diapers so she had to keep working with that wet diaper on her back.

There were displays of the 100th Battalion and 442nd Regimental Combat Team as well as the MIS (Military Intelligence Service). I have two uncles that served in the 442nd and an uncle that served with the MIS.

When Art and I were in Chicago, we were introduced to a Japanese American jeweler who told us of his experiences with the 100th Battalion. He was one of the group of Japanese American soldiers who had just come back exhausted from a combat mission, but were sent out again immediately to rescue 211 survivors of what is known now as the Lost Battalion (Texas). The 100th/442nd Battalion suffered 800 casualties to save the Texans, but did it all to prove their loyalty to their country despite the fact that their families were behind barbed wires in the states. It was a very sad, shameful time in our history.

There were also posters showing the progress and successes that had been made since then. I believe the aim of the exhibit was to remind everyone of the sacrifices that had to be made in order for the following generations to have a better life.

I found this poster very interesting.

While Hawaii has retained many of the customs and even language of many decades ago when the first immigrants from Japan came, life, language and customs in Japan have evolved separately.

Japanese customs in Hawaii have also joined the Hawaiian melting pot and evolved in its own way.

We were glad we went to see the exhibit and be reminded of what we owe to those brave and determined people whose footsteps we follow.

It's now our duty to do what we can for those who follow us.