October 13, 2007

Horse's Mouth
The Luncheon for the Late Kats Nakamura
By George Yoshinaga

Bill Hosokawa, Nisei journalism’s top star, has been contributing his column in the Saturday edition of The Rafu Shimpo for some time now but I noticed that he has not appeared for about a month so I dropped by the office to ask Gwen Muranaka what happened.She told me that he stumbled and hurt himself so he’s been sidelined.

If Bill is tuned into my rumbling, I wish him well and hope he gets back on his feet soon so he can continue his writing.

In my column last week I wrote a few lines about Kats Nakamura, who passed away recently.

I related how we first met, at the Santa Ana Assembly Center during our internment there. His daughter Tracy held a memorial luncheon in his memory this past Saturday and I attended it.

Tracy printed a short biography on Kats’ life and passed it out to the many who attended the gathering. In reading it, I was surprised to learn that Kats’ parents immigrated to the U.S. in the early 1900’s from Kumamoto, Japan.

That’s the same prefecture where my parents hailed from. However, even more surprising was that Kats’ parents immigrated from Tomochi-machi, a small village in Shimomashiki-gun. That’s the same village where my parents lived before coming to the U.S. Being such a small village, I am sure that Kats’ parent must have known mine.

Unfortunately, even though I had know Kats for over 65 years, I never talked with him about his parents.

If I had, I might have also leanred that during the early days in America, Kats’ father drove around California tracking, interviewing and photographing all the immigrants who came to America from Kumamoto.

Gee, he might even have taken photos of my Issei parents during his travel around California.

Well, the luncheon for Kats was well worth the time I spent with his family and many friends.

Among those friends was Zombie and Julie Yamamoto.

Zombie was one of the stars of the NAU basketball program several decades ago and I think he still owns the one game scoring record, something like 78 points.

We also traveled together to Salt Lake City to attend the national Oriental basketball tournament held there annually.

The luncheon gave us an opportunity to chat about and relieve those days.

One problem I have with Zombie’s nickname is “Zombie.”

When we were younger, I didn’t even give it a thought but now that he’s a grandfather it’s kind of tough for me to say, “Hey, Zombie, how’s it going?” Especially if his grandkids are within earshot.

I think his legal name is Hiroyuki.

But, I’m not sure. So at the luncheon when there were people within earshot, I called him “Zom.”

I guess I can’t complain about being called “Horse.”

Oh yes, while we were conversing, Zombie told me there is a new piece of equipment that computer users can hook up that eliminates the need to type words.

It’s a system called “Dragonspeak.” In this system, all one has to do is talk into the computer and the computer prints out what is said.

Man, if this is true, it would sure help me produce my column.

Zombie said to check with Best Buy about the piece of equipment.

If what he says is true and the equipment doesn’t cost an arm and a leg, I may install it.

Of course, if the computer will print out every word spoken, I guess if I make a mistake and say, “Oh, kukai,” the statement will probably appear on the printed page.

I’m sure typist Maggie won’t appreciate seeing “oh, kukai” all over the page.

Politics always grabs the headlines in the media.

With the presidential election coming up next year, there is more attention than ever these days.

However, there are quite a few elections at the lower levels that catch our attention, too.

Among these is that attorney Gavin Hachiya Wasserman has thrown in his hat to run for the Torrance City Council.

Being an active person, I’m sure that Gavin will have a better than ever chance of winning the seat.

He was the president of the Japanese American Republican club so he has some clout within the JA community.

Good luck to him.

George Wakiji, who is a frequent contributor to my column, says he’s going to be absent from the scene for a few weeks.

He’s heading off for Japan for what he says is probably his “saigo no” visit (Last visit).

Kind of curious why he is considering this is final trip to the “old country,” as we used to call it in the old days.

I can sort of understand why.

There was a time in my life when I couldn’t get enough of Japan. Every chance I got, I jumped on the place and crossed the Pacific to head for Tokyo.

Maybe it’s old age but with the changing Japan in these days I don’t have any desire to go to Japan.

I still get a lot of opportunities from people I used to be associated with in Japan who say they would provide my travel expenses if I went over there.

As frequently mentioned, if I traveled, there are the only two places which still get my interest—Maui in Hawaii and you-know-where, just a few miles north of Primm, Nev. (That would be Las Vegas, of course.)

Never did I imagine that one day visiting Japan would have not interest for me.

Well, maybe one of these days, when my bones get weary and I need to soak in a hot tub, I might consider going to Japan to visit some of my old haunts which feature spas.

Especially the mixed-sex bathtub. It’s so much fun to see the Japanese women run over when they find out there’s a gaijin in the pool.

While my mind is on Japan, I read recently that there were 28 deaths in Japan attributed to appliances, mostly heaters.

When I lived in Japan, before all the new high-tech appliances were invented, the death toll attributed to heaters was far greater.

The reason was simple.

In those days, most people used kerosene stoves.

If they were not properly adjusted they used to give off smoke fumes that would be deadly in many cases.

We had kerosene stoves in three rooms in the house we lived in and in the winter time, all three were going full blast.

One experience we had made me toss out all of them. We decided to get more “futon” to cover us when we slept without heating the entire room.

What happened was, during the night, one of my sons, who was still very young, turned one of the knobs on the kerosene stove and it was blazing away without our knowledge.

I found out when I smelled smoke and looked into the living room. It looked like Los Angeles on one of its worst smog days.

After I tossed the stove into the yard, I looked at my wife and the kids. If there was anything amusing about the whole experience, it was that everyone of them had a black ring around their nose.

I looked in the mirror and ditto, me too.

We laughed about it later and I regret I didn’t have a camera so I could have taken a photo of all of us, looking like circus clowns with make-up on.

Ah, memories…

For those of you who travel to Hawaii frequently and have relatives there, your whole time is not taken in the resort hotel environment.

You go to visit your relatives.

When you do, you know that it’s a custom in Hawaii to remove your shoes before entering the house.

I would assume that it was a custom brought over to the Islands by the Japanese immigrants.

At any rate, the home has slippers by the door so that once the visitor steps inside, his or her shoes are left on the porch.

There is one problem these days in Hawaii. The people are still required to remove their shoes but many homes don’t provide slippers.

There was a recent story where one visitor refused to take off his shoes because there were no slippers to wear inside the house and the house had three dogs as pets so the floor was covered with fur and in some areas,

with you-know-what because the animals weren’t trained to do their things in a special box or go outside.

Well, according to the story I read, the visitor refused to step around the house in his stocking feet with all the junk on the floor and he left.

I know that when I go to Maui I still take off my shoes and leave them outside even if my relatives don’t provide slippers for inside wear.

One thing they all still do, however, is to provide slippers when one has to use the bathroom.

I can imagine visiting someone’s home and having to step into the bathroom in stocking feet.

Yeah, aloha to you too, kotonk.

I’m not too sure about the accuracy of the information, but I was told that the tribute paid to Issei farmers in Orange County in the form of an exhibit at the Cal State Fullerton Arboretum will close this December.

I find this hard to believe or accept if it is true.

One of those responsible for the exhibit honoring the Issei was the late Clarence Nishizu, who almost single handedly raised the funds necessary to present the exhibit.

Clarence, an old friend that I met at Heart Mountain Relocation Center during the war years, helped raise the 4250,000 required to put the exhibit together. It told the story of the Issei pioneers who settled in Orange County and were responsible for many of the agricultural success enjoyed in the area by the people who resided there. It is not clear why the exhibit is so short lived when considering the cost and effort it took to establish it.

I always thought it was a permanent exhibit for the generations to come enjoy and understand the role the Issei played in OC’s farming industry. If the closing of the exhibit is true, I hope someone will step forward and inquire why.

Most people never give a thought to what it cost to equip one GI serving in the military in a war zone.

Well, it might not only surprise the American public but heat up the controversy over our troops in Iraq if they find out about the price of war.

Consider this: It costs 100 times more to equip a GI fighting in Iraq than it did to equip our soldiers during World War II.

During WWII, it cost $170 to equip a soldier with a combat belt, steel helmet, leather combat boots and M1 rifle. Total weight, 35.8 pounds.

Today? It’s $17,472. Weight, 75.3 pounds.

And don’t forget. When most of us (Nisei) entered the army as privates, our pay was $21 a month.

I don’t know how much a buck private makes now.

The cost of the war itself is now tabbed at $189.3 billion. As recently as 2001, it was only $17 billion. Maybe I shouldn’t use the world “only.”

Oh well, maybe if Hillary Clinton can raise $80 million to carry on her “war” to become president, maybe we shouldn’t get too excited about the cost of the war in Iraq.

It’s a well-publicized fact that Japan leads the world when it comes to the longevity of its senior citizens.

So it wasn’t surprising to read that Japan is testing robot technology to help the aging population.

The seniors can expect to be served food by a robot, ride a voice-recognized wheelchair and even a robot nurse.

With 22 percent of Japan’s population age 65 and over, firms are engaged in building these robots. The feeding robot, for example, helps the elderly disabled eat with a spoon and fork fitted swiveling arm.

Each robot costs about $3,500.

In addition to the age of the seniors, there is a growing breakdown in family ties in Japan, and older Japanese are spending their golden age away from the traditional care provided by children and grandchildren.

What makes me curious is don’t they have retirement homes in Japan?

Hey, we have Keiro Homes here in Southern California, and I assume that keiro is a Japanese word.

… Which opens the door for me to comment on a recent story I did on Keiro Home.

I received a letter from reader Jane Nakamura, who wrote: “Obviously you were very impressed with the suite that Mrs. Kunitsugu is living in at the Keiro Japanese Retirement Home, i.e. the spaciousness, the décor, etc.

These two-room suites are for people of means who can afford to pay $1,840 monthly rent. For the much more compact one-room studio apartment, the monthly rent is $1,610.

“My concern is for those on SSI with limited income who are forced to share a one-room studio apartment and yet are asked to pay $936 a month each. These studio rooms were built for one-person occupancy, not two. It is very small even for one resident, but to place two total strangers in it affords absolutely no space and definitely no privacy. Undoubtedly, this is done to make more money for Keiro. But shouldn’t there be some

consideration for the comfort of the elderly Issei and Nisei? Please drop by unannounced and take a look at the studio apartment shared by two so you can judge for yourself.

“Isn’t Keiro supposed to make the ‘golden years’ a stress-free, happy time for our elderly? Isn’t this what the community supports them for? It appears their original philosophy of making the facility a haven for the elderly, whether one has money or not, has changed. Why?”

The comments here are allegations of the letter writer and I can’t substantiate the accuracy of its contents.

The next time I am in the Keiro area, I will drop by and see if I can get a response from the personnel there to correct the allegations if they need to be corrected. In the meantime, thanks to reader Jane for the mail.

Here’s something which was headlined, “You Can’t Believe This.”

It reads: In the City of Bakersfield there was a family (JAs) of 13—eight girls, three boys and two parents. The mother started the year with a birthday party on Jan. 2, followed with a birthday every month, but two in July.

Youngest brother was to be born in December, but came Nov. 25. Many times, Thanksgiving was on his birthday.

The note was sent by Marlee Kameteani. Thanks Marlee. I’ve heard about families in Hawaii with dozen or more kids, but never a family on the Mainland with so many offspring.

Add this to the list of those using the term “Jap.”

There’s an eatery in Irvine called “On the Border.”

One of the items on the menu is called “Firecracker Japs.”

The explanation for this use of “Jap “ is explained as it being the shortened word for “Jalapenos.”

Okay, the next time I go into a Mexican restaurant, I’ll ask the waiter if they serve “Japs,” and see if he understands that it is short for “Jalapenos.”

Okay, some of you may wonder, now the Dodgers are out of play-off contention, who am I rooting for to make it to the World Series, and why?

That’s easy for me to respond to.

I’m for the Colorado Rockies.

I like Denver. And with Kaz Matsui leading the way for the Rockies, my Japanese ancestry kicks in and it’s “Go Rockies.”

By the way, there was an interesting note on Takahiro Iguchi of the Philadelphia Phillies.

He says he’s applying for a Green Card, which would make him a permanent resident of the U.S.

It never occurred to me what the immigration status of these Japanese Major Leagues were until I read about Iguchi and his quest for a Green Card.

Oh well, “gambare Iguchi-kun.”