KATSUICHI KAWAMOTO THE WATUMULL FOUNDATION ORAL HISTORY .PROJECT Katsuichi Kawamoto (1881 - ) Mr. Kawamoto came to Hawaii from Japan in 1899, the youngest of eight contract laborers who were assigned to a work force that was to start a sugar plantation on Molokai. The project failed after seven months and the laborers were released from their three-year contract with the Morioka Immigration Contracting Company. After working at several odd jobs, Mr. Kawa­ moto was employed as a foreman by the Nippu Jiji (now the Hawaii Times), a Japanese newspaper in Honolulu. He later became manager of the company, a position he held until his retirement. In 1909, when he was foreman, the Nippu Jiji became involved in the first Japanese labor strike, defending the plantation laborers in their demand. for higher wages. The newspaper again defended the laborers in their 1920 wage strike. In this interview, Mr. Kawamoto gives his version of the events of those strikes and tells about his early years in Hawaii at the turn of the century. He has received awards for promoting friendship between the United States and Japan and for his work in the Japanese community. Katherine B. Allen, Interviewer © 1979 The Watumull Foundation, Oral History Project 2051 Young Street, Honolulu, Hawaii, 96826 All rights reserved. This transcript, or any part thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without the permission of the Watumull Foundation. INTERVIEW WITH KATSUICHI KAWAMOTO In his Kaimuki home, 943 Eleventh Avenue, Honolulu, 96816 July 5, 1971 K: Katsuichi Kawamoto T: Translator, Mrs. Takuzo Kawamoto A: Kathy Allen, Interviewer Information obtained prior to recording: Katsuichi Kawamoto was born to Tozaemon and Taka Kawamoto, rice farmers, on September 2, 1881 in Yamaguchi Prefecture on the island of Honshu, in the city of Iwakuni and the village of Tszu. His birthplace is about thirty miles from Hiroshima. In Japan, his name would be Kawamoto Katsuichi. A: How many were there in his own family? How many children were there? T: Four sisters and he was the only son. A: And what were the sisters' names, first names? T: The oldest was Hide. A: Are your sisters all deceased now? K: Yeh. T: Ah no. I think the youngest is living. Two oldest and the one just below him died. A: All right. And the youngest· is still living and her name is . T: Kono. K-0-N-0. She's the only one now. A: Where does she live now? T: She lives in Iwakuni. 2 A: Still in the hometown. T: Different village, though. He's the middle [child]. He had two older sisters and two below him. K: Just only one boy, you know. Ac And he worked on the rice farm with his parents and his sisters. All of them worked on the rice farm. T: Well, they all had to help, you know, with the family. He says he went to school. Finished the eighth grade, And then, until he came to Hawaii, he helped on the farm. A: I see. Is there anything about your schooling that you remember especially? What kind of schooling it was or any­ thing about the school? T: Why, he said his father--well, he was a farmer but on the side he contracted with railroad work. They laid a line, I guess from Yamaguchi to Kobe, and then they contracted for a piece of railroad work. But the company went bank­ rupt. Oh, so they lost their farm the last year. Oh, that's why he decided to come to Hawaii. A: That's why he decided. He decided on his own, then, to come to Hawaii. T: He was sixteen then. He said, after he finished the eighth grade and while he was doing his railroad work with his father, he went to night school at the principal's home after working for two or three years. Aa Very good. And theh, what I'm really curious about now is how he heard about Hawaii and decided to come here. Kc (in part) Farm all gone. You know, father lose for that. And then, one time I'm going to the temple, you know. And then coming down Imazu--you know, one of that city--here contraction for coming to Hawaii immigration. Ta When he went to this temple, he heard about this ... Kc Hawaii immigration. T: This temple was in Imazu. Then he heard about this con­ tract to go to Hawaii. They were contracting for immigra­ tion, so he decided to come. But he was.then only sixteen so he couldn't come [even though he passed the required physical examination and would otherwise have been eligi~ ble]. So the following year, when he became seventeen, J then he got his notice saying that there were eight people . coming to Hawaii and he was one of them. A: They wouldn't take them at sixteen then. T: But the following ye~r when he was seventeen, he left with seven others and he was the youngest in that group. A: Oh really? Youngest in the group that came over. What ship did you come over on, do you remember? K: America Maru. Japanese boat, you know. Ta Japanese boats are all Maru. Aa Oh yeah, that Maru, I've seen that a lot. (referring now to my note-taking) It's all recorded but I try to keep track of it so I know what's on there, when it's on there. K: And arrive over here April 20, 1899. Aa Isn't it amazing to be able to remember exact dates like that? 1899· What did you think about when you first saw Hawaii? How did you feel when you first saw the Island of Hawaii when you came on the boat? K: (in part) ~ .. Immigration . pestilence . about ten days, twelve day all time. T: Quarantine. A: Quarantine? T: [They were in] quarantine for about ten days. Honolulu was--didn't they have that big ah . A: Cholera? Was it cholera that time? K: (in part) All burning, you know . Japanese, Chinese town. All burn up. T: Wasn't it the bubonic plague? A: Oh, maybe, bubonic plague. In Chinatown. [According to historian Gavan Daws, fires to rid downtown Honolulu of the plague were started on December Jl, 1899 in a system­ atic manner; but a fire that was started on January 20, 1900 got out of control and destroyed thirty-eight acres.] Where were they quarantined then? Ta In immigration. 4 A: In the immigration station. Ka (in part) Immigration, da kine, Morioka Company. A: (after listening to K speak in Japanese) Took them fif­ teen days from Japan to get here. Ka Yeh. About twelve day. Ta About two weeks, I guess. Aa Two weeks, yes. Twelve days getting here, then ten days in quarantine. That was quite a long period, almost a month, of being confined. How did--ah--what kind of con­ ditions were there in this immigration station where you had to stay? K: (in part) Immigration ... examination . so that everything okay. Ta While they were confined there, they had a sort of physi­ cal check-up. Ka (in part) • Contraction .•. Molokai. T: They were sent to Molokai because that's where their con­ tract was. Aa So then, you had to get on a boat again. Inter-island boat. Ka And then Molokai is, you know •.• Maui . sugar plan- tation. Ta They were going to start a sugar plantation on Molokai but . K: And then, no more house, you know ... Kaunakakai ••. beach. T: They didn't have any houses so. • . They arrived there in the dark, so they didn't know where they were sleeping and when they got up in the morning . • Ka Three hundred and fifty. Aa How many? Three hundred and fifty people? And they were going to start a sugar plantation. But did they? Ta Well, they didn't have any housing so that night they slept on the beach. When they got up in the morning, they 5 found that they were sleeping on the cow dung. They land­ ed at Kaunakakai but their destination wa u Palaau. Is there a place called Palaau over there? A: Yes. Palaau. P-A-L-A-A ... Ta Pala'a . That's where their destination was. Aa And so then they did start the sugar plantation there? Ta Yes. K: And then, you know that Molokai no more water, you know, so Kaunakakai pumping water. T: Well, they had to irrigate the land because Molokai doesn't have much water. And they were sent there to dig the ditches for the irrigation project. K: (in part) Pick and shovel hard ... Tora, old man got . Molokai big plantation now . plantation store no got . • . English, Japanese talk . big man, you know. Ta Oh,well, there's this old man from Tokyo. His name was Tora. He was cook f.or the supervisor. So, you know dig­ ging ditches is hard work and he wanted to learn how to cook, so he assisted. After he was through with his dig­ ging, then he went to help because he wanted to learn how to cook. K: . Everybody three year contraction come in from here to here, you know ... salt water . Ta Well, they were supposed to serve for three years but, you know, they were pumping the water and they hit salt water, so the whole project wasn't any good anymore, so their con­ tracts were cancelled. So they were free to go on their own. A: Oh, I see.