gotohealth's Blog

All of life seeks food, protection from danger and reproduction, but humans are the only ones that can tell stories. Secondly, connecting with others in conversation helps us understand ourselves better. 

 

One day in 1970, I got a phone call from University of Washington Professor of Psychiatry, Minoru Masuda, asking me to take a part time job collecting documentation on the Japanese Experience in the Pacific Northwest. Min Masuda, Frank Miyamoto, professor of Social Studies and Rich Berner, creator of Suzallo Library Archives, had collaborated and found a grant to start the “Japanese Collection” for Special Collections at the Archives.

 

My degree was in nursing and I was new to the Seattle area. With two preschool daughters, had no desire to work outside the home and had no thought or interest in history. I answered, “No!” And hung up the wall phone in the kitchen of our Capitol Hill home.

 

A day or two later, my husband, Sam, unbeknownst to me at that time, did have interest in history and talked me into calling back and taking the job.

 

I did find documents and interviewed around 30 Japanese community leaders. Some of the tapes have been translated, digitized and are accessible with internet. I fell in love with history!

 

Funding ran out with the Special Collections project. Twenty years later in 1991, I decided, instead of just collecting, to create documentation. Chuck Kato, Margaret Yasuda, Del Uchida and me; gathered in my Mercer Island house kitchen and shared stories to start. We gradually wrote down some of the stories. Christmas 1993, I used Pagemaker to edit, went to Kinko to print and made booklet covers with construction paper. We called it OMOIDE (memories) - Volume I and passed out the booklets to family and friends as presents.

 

OMOIDE writers continue to meet monthly in 2024 at the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Washington, and we are seeking stories for OMOIDE VII. Previous OMOIDE publications feature memories, with stories of difficult times with immigration, discrimination, incarceration and post WWII resettlement.

 

With a 2024 Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction - KIP TOKUDA MEMORIAL grant, we continue gathering stories of the Japanese experience. But we also seek stories from all individuals in Washington who have demonstrated compassion and gratitude, neighbor to neighbor, during difficult times.

 

We want stories from several Washington State locations. Similar to how OMOIDE started in 1991, we start with conversations. The quest for stories is driven by the belief that tales of compassion, resilience and human connection in trying times are invaluable human purpose activities. We want to find stories that cultivate empathy and understanding with a 12-year-old, when OMOIDE VII is distributed to school libraries around Washington State, to PASS ON RIPPLES OF COMPASSION AND GENEROSITY.