Interviews

1. Growing up in Waikiki

2. Working at a first aid station on Oahu after December 7

3. Under suspicion after Pearl Harbor

4. 442 soldiers visiting U.S. concentration camps

5. Teaching at the military language school during World War II

6. Devastation in Tokyo after World War II

7. Change in attitudes after World War II

8. Lesson learned from community college faculty

9. Rewards of teaching

Richard Kosaki

(b. 1924) Political scientist, educator, and administrator from Hawai`i

Lesson learned from community college faculty

We had a cooking program, one-year cooking program at Kapiolani Community College, it's a small program and it was run by, at that time, it was run by Shiro Matsuo. Shiro's saimin. He's famous now in Hawaii as the Saimin King.

And once, one of my colleagues came in and said, Look at the graduation rates for these different programs. Look at Shiro's program. The graduation rate is low. Lot of his students are dropping out before they graduate. So I went to see Shiro. I said, Shiro, what's, what's happening here? I showed him the record. He says, Oh, what's wrong? I said, Your students are not graduating. He looked at me and he said, Is it my job to have them graduate or is it my job to find them useful jobs? I thought we're training 'em so they can become good chefs and cooks and get jobs in those fields. He said, So when, when the Royal Hawaiian Hotel calls me and said, 'Hey, we need someone to help the sous chef, you got someone there?' He said, I send my best student. So maybe it's good they don't graduate. [Laughs]

He says, I think they got enough training. I send them there and after all, he says, isn't that what we're training them for? We're training them for gainful employment and here's an excellent chance. So I said, Oh. He taught me a lesson. It's not the graduation rate, but the end result. What are we trying to do? So I learned a lot from the community college faculty.

cooking education Shiro Matsuo

Date: March 19, 2004

Location: California, US

Interviewer: Mitchell Maki

Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum.

Interviewee Bio

Dr. Richard Hiromichi Kosaki (born September 14, 1924) was raised, educated, and has lived most of his life in Honolulu, Hawai`i. During World War II he served in the Military Intelligence Service, first as an instructor, then for several years in Japan as an interpreter during the Occupation. He graduated from the University of Hawai`i in 1948, then received his Masters and Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota.

Returning to the University of Hawai`i to teach political science, he embarked on a distinguished career there that included positions as Vice President for Community Colleges, Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Chancellor of the West Oahu College, Acting Chancellor for the University of Hawai`i at Mānoa, and President of Tokai International University in Honolulu. Along the way, he helped found the East-West Center, and was the architect of the University of Hawai`i’s community college system. His favorite maxim is the cornerstone of his educational philosophy: “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.”

Dr. Kosaki is married to Mildred (Doi) Kosaki. Their son Randall was born in 1962. (March 19, 2004)

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