KISHI​,​ Haru

My husband first came to New York as a student and stayed for a year. In 1922, he returned to Japan and we married — I was 18. He promised my father that he would return in five years, and came back to New York again, this time entering as a merchant seaman. He started his own business, but around 1929 he was hit by the Great Depression and it failed. Then I got a letter from my mother saying, “I’ll prepare everything — come back home to Japan.” But my husband said, “We can’t go back poor, with children.” So he decided not to return, and we stayed in America. We did whatever work we could. We had to survive — we had children. Our situation was very difficult. We didn’t speak English as fluently as white people, so we couldn’t get jobs at regular companies. We had to take whatever jobs we could find, no matter our education. Those who worked in Japanese-run stores were lucky, but others opened small shops of their own — just enough to live on. It was impossible for Japanese businesses to grow large. Japanese people often earned some money and quickly went back to Japan. That happened, but also — the newspaper magnate Hearst hated Japanese people. Since he owned newspapers, he kept publishing articles criticizing us. Because of that, the public began to look at Japanese people with suspicion. He even took the side of the Chinese, saying Japanese were bullying them. Then came the Shanghai Incident. After that, Japan’s reputation got even worse. Some Japanese families collected swords as art objects, and sometimes when visitors came over, they would practice with them in the garden. White neighbors saw this and thought the Japanese were fighting with swords — it caused a big scandal. People started saying Japanese were dangerous because they carried swords, and many lost their domestic servant jobs. Then there was that terrible case where a Japanese husband, enraged by his wife’s affair, stabbed her over sixty times — it was all over the papers. Our reputation worsened again. On top of that, some “Madame so-and-so” kept speaking ill of Japanese people. Because of all that, even our family jobs disappeared. We were discriminated against a lot. It was different from California — in California there were many Japanese, so they could help each other. But in New York, there was no unity. Some people even said they lived on just water when they had nothing to eat. After World War II, one American officer said, “We were wrong about the Japanese.” People began to recognize that even though the Nisei were sent to camps, they still served America. Later, we too were allowed to become citizens. Before that, we couldn’t. The war was miserable and terrible, but because of it, people began to mix a little more. For example, there were war brides — American men who married Japanese women — and through that, they came to understand Japan a bit. Without war, there would be less intermixing. The children of mixed marriages understand both sides. Even religion — people think any faith other than their own is the whisper of the devil. My language can sound rough now. People of my generation used to be so refined. We didn’t speak bluntly — we would say things softly, indirectly. But I can’t do that anymore. Japan is so particular and fussy, you know. America is more open — more continental. Japan, as an island country, stays small-minded, cliquish, and doesn’t easily accept others. So I prefer America. In Japan, if you say, “Please eat,” and someone says, “I’m on a diet,” they’ll get scolded for not eating — “Our food isn’t good enough for you?” You can’t know whether something tastes good or bad before eating it! I went back to Japan in 1962, hoping to reconnect with everyone, but even my own siblings treated me like a stranger. No one I knew was there anymore. The streets and buildings had changed — my hometown no longer existed. The little bridge I used to cross was gone. Even the elementary school I had planned to donate to had disappeared. My school friends — I missed them, but people were divided: some loved America, and others insisted Japan was the superior, older civilization. (Click enlarge image to read the full English interview) This portrait is part of the DMHJNY's new exhibit Issei: Portraits Of The First-Generation Japanese New Yorkers which is on view here: https://www.historyofjapaneseinny.org/issei/