Interview with Yasuki Arakaki, session 1 of 2 (3/19/1991)
Interview with Yasuki Arakaki conducted by Michi Kodama-Nishimoto and Daniel W. Tuttle, Jr. on 3/19/1991 in the Hilo County Building Hilo, Hawaiʻi as part of the Hawaiʻi Political History Documentation Project. A Big Island labor organizer describes his plantation background, involvement in the ILWU, and political philosophy. Topics discussed include: childhood and communal lifestyle in the Olaa plantation; strict discipline and ethics learned in Japanese school; concept of tanomoshi, similar to a credit union; being influenced by reading Japanese language newspapers and his interest in Japanese history; his identity as an Okinawan; his involvement with the Surfrider Athletic Club, a multi-ethnic baseball club, and its activities during WWII as a community hub; his efforts organizing the plantation workers on the Big Island; his memories of labor leader Jack Kawano who he credits with sugar worker organization; and attending California Labor School in 1946. Interview spans 4 videotapes. Transcript is available http://hdl.handle.net/10125/29906
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