00:01
Aloha, amazing people! This is IYASASA RADIO by Akane and Minami.
In this radio, we are going to talk about random topics in Okinawan Japanese and English.
はいたーい!
ぐすーよーちゅーがなびらー。
イヤササレディオのアカネとミナミやいびん。
うぬレディオでぐすーよーんかい。
イエーイゴとウチナーグチさんにいっぺーうむさるはなし、
つづきやんりちうむとういびん。
So, today we have two guests from Hawaii.
They have been married for 5 years.
And they are running their dental clinic in Honolulu.
リホー&アンジュー・ジョンソンです。
イエーイ!
Welcome to IYASASA.
Good evening.
In Hawaii.
日本は今、
About 4 p.m.
そっちは、え?9 p.m.?
そう、9時。
Friday?
そっか。
We're living in the future.
Yeah.
So, thank you for having time after you guys have been busy.
Right? On Friday.
Working all day.
But finally, we have a radio now.
Like, we postponed a few times.
And now we have actual radio.
そうだね。
So amazing.
リホーは、
I met her in San Francisco about 10 years ago.
10 years ago, then we became friends.
もう、長い友達なんだけど。
で、リホーとアンジューは、
You guys went in Washington, D.C.?
No, Seattle.
D.C.じゃないね。
Washington State.
で、結婚してて、いつのまにか。
で、リホーのウェディングにも行ったんですけど、
それ以来仲良くしている夫婦です。
すごーい。
で、待って、アンジューは、
何?
Where are you originally from?
I was born and raised in Hawaii.
But I went to Washington for dental school.
And that's where I'm from.
And I convinced her to move to Hawaii.
Was it hard to convince her?
No, I only asked one time and she said,
Okay.
No, is that because you already prepared all the admission stuff?
To transfer?
そうなの。
So I was going to school in Seattle.
I didn't want to quit.
Of course I wanted to keep going to the school, but
Since Andrew was just like,
Okay, here, those are all the documents to transfer to the school in Hawaii.
And he called up the admission office.
03:02
This is her name, and blah blah blah.
It's all set.
Now you can transfer.
I forgot.
But wait, did you already propose to her when you convinced her to move to Hawaii?
Or you guys just engaged?
Maybe one year later, I proposed to her.
Andrew, you are planning to propose to her after you bring her to Hawaii, right?
That's the plan.
That's a good question, yeah?
Must be.
But your mom too?
Andrew's mom is so...
I think she's really open.
Because your older sister's boyfriend, ex-boyfriend, used to live with them together.
And then she also was fine to help me.
So I stayed at Andrew's house with everyone.
At that time, your brother was there.
Sister was there.
Sister's girlfriend was there.
And everyone was at the house.
And then she's like, okay, we all can come.
Why don't you bring your girlfriend?
So for your Andrew's family, is it normal to bring boyfriend and girlfriend to live together?
Very casual style, right?
I think maybe in general in Hawaii, it's okay to live together before being married.
With family?
Yeah.
Very common to have, we call it multi-generational.
So even now, my grandpa lives with my mom, lives with my sister, lives with my sister's children, all together in one house.
But they're related. But in this case, they're not.
Oh, I see.
In many families, they're gonna have kids before being married, actually.
Yeah, that's true. I see.
And it's maybe just less strict island life.
Island life.
Liho, you don't have to go to your parents' house.
Oh, if this is okay, it's okay.
If my parents say it's okay, I think it's a good chance to see Andrew's family.
That's great.
You can go to your parents' house right away.
Was it like a pressure to live together for the first time with the family before the marriage?
06:03
How could I feel pressure?
From what?
From being a good girlfriend?
We lived together maybe six months together in Washington before moving to Hawaii.
But no, they're talking about living together with your family.
Was it hard to do it?
I don't think so.
Is it part of like a sharing house with a roommate?
Maybe.
It was difficult. That's why we live by ourselves now.
If it's a Japanese couple, then if I have a Japanese partner and he or she offers me to move to living with their family, I would say no.
She wants a private space, especially her.
I mean if that partner is Japanese.
But since you guys are Hawaiian, more mixed culture, then I can understand the cultural difference.
Then I would say yes, like Riho.
But I remember my cousin.
My cousin went to Hawaii and she got married with a Hawaiian.
And then after she moved to other different states, but the Hawaiian family moved in her house.
They already got divorced, but her ex-husband, sisters, aunt, and everybody came to her house, I mean moved to her house to babysit her baby.
Like a corporate culture.
Like a Hawaii culture, yeah.
Are you guys living in a Japanese community area? How do you say?
No, this area has a lot of local Japanese.
That's what Grace told me.
Her city is the one that has a lot of Japanese, local Japanese.
What is local Japanese?
Like 3rd or 4th generation.
Ah, that's what you call local Japanese.
So you are a Japanese living in a local area.
Yes, yes, yes. So I don't have local Japanese.
Andrew is local Japanese, right?
You're local Japanese? No, yeah?
09:01
No, I'm local Japanese.
You are Hawaiian.
My great great great grandparents came from Japan.
So 1, 2, 3, 4 generations.
But you're not really young, because you're mixed with Hawaii, so you're Hapa.
Yeah, but there's a Japanese next to me.
There's a Japanese next to you, right?
The person next to you is Japanese.
When I was 6 years old, I came to Japan.
I could understand Japanese, but I couldn't speak English.
My grandmother lived next to me.
The person next to me was from Okinawa.
How old was he?
I don't know.
I don't know Japanese at all.
The person behind me was 2 years old.
He was from Okinawa.
What's the definition of Ichisei, Nisei, Sansei?
The definition is...
If you're Ichisei, your child is Nisei.
One, two, three generations.
So the 21st generation?
Akane.
If Akane's great-grandmother is Ichisei, Akane is Sansei.
Yes, yes, yes.
Yes, yes, yes. That's right.
So Ichisei is from here to here.
The person next to you is Japanese.
The person next to you is from Japan.
The person next to you is Ichisei.
Maybe the second generation.
They don't really remember.
Do you guys have Hawaiian dialogue?
Like a slang?
Dialect, yeah. Pidgin.
English.
It's really mixed with Portuguese, Japanese, Chinese, Hawaiian, Filipino.
Mixed up, yeah?
All mixed up.
But I can hear your accent.
Really?
Yeah, I can tell the difference.
Between other...
Mine is not really true pidgin, I think.
Because if I put the pidgin accent, the whole thing gets real thick.
See?
What accent is that then?
12:01
And your accent.
Your own.
The way Andrew speaks English is so chill.
That's because you've been working on how to talk nicely to the patients.
Oh, is that so?
I don't think Andrew represents everyone.
Especially Andrew.
Slow, slow.
I think it's because he's Hawaiian.
Island vibes.
Yeah.
But the pidgin accent we just talked about was totally different, right?
Huh?
You didn't notice?
Who said pidgin accent?
Riho did.
That's right!
I said it naturally.
Who do you usually say pidgin accent to?
I mean, which area do you say it to?
It's different.
The words that people who live in the area use are usually pidgin accents.
Originally.
So, the English that I'm speaking right now is for us.
So, when Andrew speaks to his local friends, it's totally different.
Oh, so when Akane and Minami are talking to each other,
and when he's talking to other people.
So, Andrew speaks faster with your friend.
Faster, or different way.
It's the same as the pidgin accent.
Oh, okay.
I see.
I think similar to Okinawan dialect, it's different words.
We use different words and different pronunciation.
Yeah, I can understand, yeah.
Yeah.
I didn't understand any of the Okinawan that you said before.
At the beginning, yeah?
I was looking at Riho like, what is she saying?
And we just say it alone.
Andrew, how do you consider yourself?
Hawaiian, or Asian American, or Japanese?
Like you have so many identities?
Just mixed.
Just mixed.
In Hawaii, we call it hapa.
Hapa?
Technically, hapa is half.
It's usually to mean half Hawaiian, but I'm not native Hawaiian at all.
Oh, okay.
But more recently, it's come to mean half Asian, is hapa, or half white.
So, I just say, I'm hapa.
Both of your parents are from Hawaii?
Yes.
My dad moved to Hawaii when he was seven years old.
15:02
Where is he originally from?
He moved around a lot when he was younger.
I think he was born in Minnesota, and then he moved to Hawaii from Nevada.
Oh, okay.
Moved around.
All in America.
You're mixed with Hawaiian and Caucasian.
So, you're white?
I'm Japanese, Chinese, German, Swedish, and a little bit Native American.
A little bit of everything.
Yes, a little bit.
That sounds cool.
I like mixed with everything.
Yes.
Hawaii, so many cultures just all together.
Yes.
Did you have any difficulties with your identity, or how you look?
In Hawaii, there's a little bit discrimination against white people.
White people, I guess, took over Hawaii.
So, there's a little bit of resentment for that.
So, I guess growing up, even though I'm only half white, I got teased a lot for being the white boy.
And my friends were much less white, or not white at all, maybe fully Asian.
Yes.
That was a little bit difficult.
And then, I went to college in Iowa, which is in the middle of America.
And there's no Asian people there, only white people.
So, then I became the Asian person.
And I hung out with a lot of international students, mostly Japanese students there.
And then I went to Washington, and then there's so many different types of people there, too.
So, it was more welcoming, I guess.
So, yeah, that was my identity.
That sounds difficult.
To deal with it.
So, it changes depending on where you are.
You can become white or Asian.
18:01
So, as Leeho told me the other day,
in the US, white people have more privileges,
but in Hawaii, it's the other way around.
Being white is more discriminated against, right?
Yes, that's right.
I wonder if it's like the immigrants in Okinawa.
It's not that discriminated against,
but in Okinawa, people react a lot to their last name.
Like when you rent a house, or when you get married.
In Japan, people cry when they see their last name.
So, even if you don't feel discriminated against, there's a reaction, right?
And also, if you're in Okinawa for a while,
or if your parents are in Okinawa for a while,
there's an atmosphere of, yeah, now you are in.
So, yeah.
A lot of patients don't want to come to you because they think you're white.
Is that true?
It's more like they just want to...
I think, yeah, maybe they're going to choose the other dentist in the office is Dr. Sato.
So, maybe they're going to choose that doctor.
Although, we had one patient walk in and ask,
Oh, where is Dr. Johnson?
And so, our receptionist showed my picture,
because I have a picture with my little biography.
And she looked at me and said,
That's not a Johnson.
He's not white. I don't want to see him.
I want someone who's Swedish so that they can see.
It's like old days.
I mean, it's amazing that you're so open about it.
I don't think people really care that much.
It's so common.
But I do know there are some people with maybe a little bit of prejudice
against people with Japanese accent or just accent in general.
21:03
If you don't have a Hawaiian accent or Pidgin accent,
maybe they're going to be a bit of prejudice.
We have a lot of Chinese people, too.
They have an accent or strong Vietnamese accent or strong Filipino accent.
So, sometimes there's a little bit of prejudice against that as well.
The most prejudice is against white people,
because I think a lot of tourists, when they come to Hawaii,
they feel very entitled, I guess.
And so they treat the locals a little bit rudely.
And that makes people not like them.
So, it came from the tourist image?
I think so, but also it's really rooted in, I guess,
most people blame white people for America taking over Hawaii.
Even though I think if Hawaii, this is just my opinion,
but if Hawaii was still its own country,
we would be really struggling because we cannot survive on our own.
We don't have any income from money.
We used to grow pineapple, we used to grow coffee,
but now most of the farms are turned into houses.
So, there's no way for us to sustain anything.
I always think like Hawaii is like 50 years ahead of current Okinawa.
Ahead?
Ahead. Like, Hawaii is a little bit ahead of Okinawa.
No way.
Now, economically, Hawaii is really branded.
In terms of tourism?
It's exploded.
Celebrities and rich people come from outside.
It's changing.
I think Okinawa will be like that from now on.
As a tourist country, we haven't reached our maximum yet,
so if we try to match that, we can build a lot of commercial facilities,
and foreigners will come in,
so local Okinawans cannot afford buying houses or buying land.
So, the mainland Japanese or Chinese,
it's already happened, but it's not like taking over.
It's already being taken over now.
24:05
Yeah, I think so too.
When you guys said about the discrimination of the white people,
I thought it came from the history background as well,
because it's exactly similar to Okinawan history too.
Yeah, it's happening here too.
Well, there must be a reason, right?
Because white people act that way.
That's why in America, there's a term called Karen.
Karen, do you know?
Wait, Karen, I know, I've heard of it, but I forgot.
I wonder what it's used for.
Karen? What is that?
Karen.
It's some kind of discrimination, right?
It's not a term for discrimination, but it's a term for white people.
There is like a famous person named Karen did something.
No?
It's just a common name.
More like just a common name, so they just used it.
Common name for a white girl?
Yeah.
Like a British name?
Yeah, it could be any name, but it just became popular online.
People just started calling them Karen.
And Karen is a white lady who is just so entitled,
you know, they just maybe call the cops, call the police on...
I know one episode too.
Go ahead.
Like maybe they call the police on some people who are playing in the park
and they're being a little too loud.
Or they call the police on Riho because Riho pulled into her drive...
Riho parked in the wrong driveway for a few minutes
and she was looking for directions,
and this white lady called the police on her.
This was in Hawaii too.
Yeah, that's right. It actually happened to us.
Short-temper.
Yeah, so short-tempered and over-the-top,
they react to their actions and call the person who is being loud, Karen.
What kind of person is that?
You know, maybe they have something about their order that was wrong,
so they go to the manager of the restaurant.
Hey, I ordered this and they gave me this.
I expect the whole thing to be free.
You know, there's a lot of that that white people do.
Even though they're not actually white, we still call her Karen.
The other day, I saw the video, like a white lady ordered a soup
and then the soup didn't come for a long time,
and she spilled the soup on the...
Waitress?
Yeah, waitress face, and then...
Wow.
27:00
That's a Karen.
She's a Karen.
That's a Karen for sure.
For sure.
But was that a white lady that did that?
Yeah.
That's why, I don't know, white people...
I'm white myself, but it just...
So many of those examples exist.
It just gives white people a bad reputation, I guess.
I have a will not to choose, not wearing a mask or something like that.
I don't know, like something like...
I'm going to keep shopping and that's all.
It's like, wow, she was so caring.
That's why I chose Karen.
But does people say Karen on the mainland too?
Oh, that's interesting.
So, like, does, you know, a lot of parents still name their kids Karen,
even though they know the Karen thing?
Oh, I see.
Yeah, only recently, maybe less than 10 years,
the name or the term became popular.
Karen.
I think it became popular on Facebook and Twitter.
Yeah, like social.
Social media, yeah.
But it's funny, isn't it?
The name that's a bit of a loss in society,
like Karen, or Alexa.
Alexa.
There's also the term Alexa.
It's called that in Western countries.
Oh, I see.
If your name is used for that...
30:00
But in Japan, it's like Sadako.
Is there such a thing?
There isn't, right?
But, for example, like my name, Minami.
Higashi.
No, it's not Higashi.
I've seen the name of the place called Minami a lot.
Like Bachinkoya.
There's also a clinic called Minami.
Minami is used in a lot of places,
but there's no color.
You feel popular.
I feel like I'm in a lot of places.
It's not like I'm in a special genre or anything.
Akane might feel the same way.
I'm so proud of being Akane.
I'm sure you're proud of everything.
I love the color of Akane.
Thank you, mom.
In Hawaii, there's discrimination against white people.
I think it's similar to Okinawa.
It's similar to the discrimination against people from Tokyo or Okinawa.
It's very similar to Okinawa.
I was talking to Rihoku about the discrimination against white people in Hawaii.
I was like, hey, hey, hey.
I have a few Hawaiian friends,
but they don't see the cultural difference or the situation.
They don't tell me about it.
But Rihoku is Japanese.
She moved to Hawaii.
She moved to the States.
It's easy to see the difference.
I don't feel like I'm in America at all.
How was it when you went to mainland?
When you were seen as an Asian?
Andrew?
Andrew, how was it?
I really didn't like Iowa.
It was really bad.
First, most important, the food was not good.
The food was not good.
The rice, they don't have rice.
They don't have rice.
They only have bread.
Bread and mostly potatoes.
But the rice, they do have some rice, but it's not sticky.
It's like dry rice.
The only time I got to eat rice was the rice that I cooked myself,
33:03
brought from Hawaii.
Or I go to my friend Kazushi's room,
and he has rice from Japan.
It's so good.
You grew up with rice?
Yes.
Me too.
Yes.
I feel you.
Being Hawaiian is very similar to being Okinawan.
Because when I was in San Francisco, I met someone from Hawaii,
then I was introducing myself that I'm from Okinawa,
not like mainland Japanese.
She said, did you say mainland Japan?
Like we say mainland America or mainland USA,
but mainland American doesn't use the term mainland.
Right.
So I was surprised.
The islanders are like nature in Okinawa.
The islanders are the ones who distinguish between the mainland and Okinawa.
When I heard that from a Hawaiian,
I was like, they're saying exactly the same thing.
It's really similar.
It's similar.
Really.
And there are a lot of Okinawans and mainlanders in Hawaii.
Okinawans and mainlanders.
Okinawans and mainlanders.
There's a Chinen in that neighborhood,
and there are a lot of second and third generations.
There's a festival in Okinawa, right?
Yes, there is.
I went there.
Wow.
You can even hang a Yonabaru flag in Hawaii.
What are you going to say?
I don't know if it's the same topic anymore.
What is it?
I was going to talk about...
Maybe the culture in Hawaii is so different from America.
But even in America, it's different wherever you go.
For example, maybe the east coast of America is very fast-paced.
They talk faster.
Maybe it's a little more abrupt in the way that they talk.
Whereas, as you know, Hawaii is much more slow.
Where I was in Iowa, it's considered the middle west.
It's a little more slow-paced, but they call it very friendly.
But to me, it felt fake friendly.
36:03
They'll hold the door open for you if you're walking.
Or they'll smile and say,
Oh, good morning. How was your day?
They'll talk to you really nicely.
But if you really need help, like if you need a ride to the airport,
or you drop something on the ground,
and you're carrying a bunch of stuff,
and you have to bend over to pick it up,
nobody's going to help you.
They're cold.
You can't rely on them for actual help.
They're just only polite or nice.
So that to me, it was really difficult.
Because in Hawaii, if you ask somebody for help, they'll help you.
It doesn't matter if you know them or not.
If you really need help, somebody's always going to help you.
And I was so used to that.
And then going to Iowa, and then I don't know anybody there,
and asking for help, and then people saying,
Oh, yeah, yeah. Or, Oh, I wish I could help.
Sometimes they'll even say, Yeah, I'll help.
And then they don't.
It's just really, really difficult.
Culture shock for me.
And then Washington, on the West Coast, was even more different.
They call it Seattle freeze.
Because if, which I don't know how accurate that is,
because there was a lot of polite people there too.
But the term comes from people having a cold atmosphere, I guess.
If you don't know somebody, you don't talk to them.
If you sit on the bus, you sit on the bus, the entire bus ride,
next to a stranger, and you don't say a single word to them,
because you don't know them.
It's like when you go to the city, it happens.
People behave themselves.
I think so.
They don't care.
Yeah.
But I found some of my closest friends in Seattle,
where if I really needed help, they will make sure that they help me.
They drop whatever they're doing to help me.
Which was nice.
That's why I liked Seattle a lot.
And I know Rio also liked Washington a lot too.
The people are just a lot more predictable, you know.
If they're nice to you, it's because they like you and they're going to help you.
If they're not nice to you, it's because they don't like you,
so don't ask them for help, right?
Exactly.
Hmm.
39:12
A different version.
Yeah.
Hmm.
Hmm.
So how do you like living in Hawaii, Riho?
Like being like in a member of family, Hawaiian family.
So I really like your family, Andrew.
Because your mom is really powerful, yeah?
She is helping.
She is the boss.
Yeah, that's true.
She is the boss.
She controls everything.
She literally controls everything.
But at the same time, I feel like I want to make her happy too for some reason,
even though she is the one who's controlling.
I don't know how to describe this.
She controls everything.
So you're building a good marriage relationship.
Yes, very much so.
At first, she was a little too powerful, and I was like, what?
She's powerful, but she's also very supportive.
When she's on your side, she's super strong.
Yeah.
Cute cat.
Do you have any episodes where you're like, this is what an American shoot looks like?
It doesn't look like she's doing anything.
I don't think so.
It doesn't look like she's doing anything.
People are like that.
Do you consider your mom is kind of unique?
42:00
Yeah.
Yeah? Why?
Would you consider your mom unique?
I don't think so.
You think a lot of moms are like your mom?
Yeah.
Huh.
I guess I just always thought everybody was unique.
I'm going to speak Japanese, okay?
I'm going to speak Japanese.
I'm going to speak Japanese.
I'm going to speak Japanese.
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I'm going to speak Japanese.
Yeah, that's true.
My mom is full Asian though, so maybe.
Could be.
Could be.
Sometimes.
But I know...
Like what?
Like when?
I don't know.
But I do know that my mom will always tell me whatever she's thinking.
So if she had something she wanted to complain about, she'll tell me.
45:04
Because I had girlfriends that she complained about a lot.
How many siblings do you have, Andrew?
Three siblings.
So two sisters and one brother.
Yeah.
Nice.
Two of them live on the mainland.
So I think my mom can focus her time on my sister and I.
My sister and me.
Yeah, yeah.
Since we're in Hawaii.
Right.
We've moved to a lot of places.
We're doing what we like.
Yeah, we've been doing what we like.
We've been doing it, but now...
My wife started working for the dental office because I bought the office in April.
So it's been seven months only.
And she's already in charge of everything.
It's like a buddy.
Because there's a lot of business.
I don't know if prices are higher in Okinawa than mainland Japan.
But in Hawaii, prices are much, much higher because everything is imported.
So to be a business owner is so stressful.
I would think in every industry in Hawaii, because everything costs more, but we get paid less.
So how do you survive?
48:03
Which I don't know why even in the dental field, why we get paid less.
But we do.
And then everything costs more because of shipping and getting things sent here.
Do you have an idea?
I don't know if I want to be a business owner anymore after seven months.
It's so much easier just to work for somebody else.
Yeah, that's so true.
But you will never learn until you start doing it.
And everybody tells me it will get easier.
I don't know. We're not there yet.
We still have so many things to fix.
Which I guess is the hard part about buying something that's already existing.
Versus if you just start something brand new, then you already have everything that you're going to do, the way you're going to do it.
Whereas we're changing things and change is a lot more work, I think.
What do you think is the best way to survive in Hawaii?
Real estate?
That's a good question.
Mentally healthy and financially and everything.
Everything else, try to live beneath your means.
So don't spend more money than you have.
Save the money.
Which I think a lot of people in Hawaii have a hard time with.
I see a lot of people out there and I know they're making less money than I am.
But they have brand new trucks.
Toyota Tacoma is the most popular car in the island.
Or Toyota in general.
Toyota Tacoma, the Toyota 4Runner, so many of those.
Just brand new.
They just buy it and I don't know where their money comes from.
They get brand new phones.
They go out to eat all the time.
And I'm sure that makes it really difficult to survive.
Living, I guess, frugally.
They're just spending more money than they need to.
Which we do too.
It's easy to spend money.
It's hard to save.
I agree.
You guys are 50 years ahead of us, so I'm studying from you guys.
We need to learn from Hawaii.
51:03
That's what they think.
Economically, financially, cultural things too.
Put it this way.
The house that we are renting, we're renting for $3,000 a month.
If we were to try to buy this house, it would be $1.4 million.
So we calculated that out.
If we were to pay 20% down payment and then pay for the monthly mortgage, the monthly loan,
we're going to pay almost $6,000.
So almost twice the rent.
So I think it's really difficult to buy real estate, to buy properties, because it's just so high.
Yeah, and so in Hawaii, there's no way to make money.
Hawaii has suddenly turned into a very strict environment.
There is low-income housing.
And then they just keep checking to make sure that your income is below a certain amount.
Then there's another pool for Hawaiian ancestry, low-income.
So I think their income limits are a little bit higher, but they do need to be part of Native Hawaiian.
And then they also have other buildings for the low-income Native Hawaiian.
But yeah, lots and lots.
54:04
I remember that when I was in Tokyo and I was working for the wedding in Hawaii,
and at the Moana Surfrider, they had a Democrat.
Not Democrats, but protesters.
Like they don't want to work anymore.
Then we couldn't have weddings for a few months.
Because of that, that happens.
Yeah, I think we call it a strike.
They're trying to get paid more.
I don't know about in Japan, but in America, we have a lot of worker unions.
Do they have in Japan?
Yeah, we do.
Yeah, same thing.
It's rare to do a strike for Japanese employees.
It doesn't happen.
Rarely happens.
That's because Japanese are proud of their job.
I don't think so.
We don't have the courage to do that.
Oh, I see.
Or they just don't know the way to protest.
I think it's gotten less common now.
Used to be much more common years and years ago.
Before I think any of us were born, it was really common.
I think they called it the labor wars in America.
But it still does happen, and I think it's the last ditch effort for the employees.
To get paid more, because pretty much either they're going to get a raise or they're all going to get fired.
So that's it.
I guess, yeah, it takes a lot of courage.
Yeah, that's how difficult to live in Hawaii.
So there's been maybe three strikes that I know of since I've been living.
One of them was the teachers.
All of the public school teachers went on strike.
So that was fun because I was in elementary school and we didn't have to go to school.
57:01
The second one was the one you mentioned, the hotel workers.
And then the third one was another union.
I think it was some kind of construction union.
I don't remember.
But it was like the plumbers or some kind of construction, I don't remember.
I think there are a lot of people who are not happy even if they work.
I don't realize it because I don't live in the south, but there are definitely a lot of things.
So when they build new facilities or when they try to make Okinawa more exciting as a tourist destination,
they have to be prepared for the loss of jobs and positions.
If they don't move while predicting a lot of things,
the happiness of the local Okinawans, or the place of activity in society,
will be lost.
It's difficult.
We have to educate them so that they can compete with each other.
Parents know that their children will live in such an era.
It's the generation in the south.
I think we have to educate them knowing that the current generation will be like that.
Dark side of tropical islander.
You're right.
Andrew, you're sleeping, right?
It's time to sleep.
Andrew is falling asleep.
He's going to sleep.
Good night.
Good night.
Thank you.
You're alone now.
1:00:00
Is it your 6th or 7th year in Hawaii?
Well, in Hawaii...
Oh, I see.
If I get married and it's my 5th year,
it's my 6th year.
I think it's my 7th year.
It's my 7th year.
How is it?
It's an international marriage in Hawaii that Japanese people long for.
Yeah, it is.
It must be hard.
It's hard.
It's hard.
Like I said before,
people see me without any background.
Even at my current job,
people only see how I work,
how I work,
how fast I work,
and that's how they see me.
It's a direct connection.
If I can do this well,
people can rely on me.
If I can't do this,
if I can't do this well,
people can rely on someone else.
Like,
Riho doesn't say,
I'm his wife,
I'm his daughter,
she doesn't say that at all.
She doesn't?
She doesn't.
If I didn't say my name,
she wouldn't know I'm the doctor's wife.
The patient,
the phone operator.
She doesn't say it.
She doesn't say it on the phone.
She only says,
I'm Riho.
She doesn't say, I'm Riko.
So,
the way she talks is terrible.
What do you mean?
The way you talk?
Or...
It's nothing,
it's just don't give a fuck.
Oh, I see.
From the point of view of the people on the side,
it's just...
There are a lot of people in Japan
who can change their attitude
as soon as they find out you're their wife.
Yeah, and also,
when you say your position,
or office manager,
the tone changes.
I see.
Because they think you're just a receptionist.
A receptionist is like $14,
or something like that.
So, office manager...
It's not a corporate society,
but there's a mounting.
Oh, I see.
Yeah.
So,
there's a Japanese person
with a Japanese accent
who came to the dentist's office
with nothing on her face
and she's just Riho.
So,
there are Japanese people,
and there are Japanese people
who can't speak Japanese
because of their grandparents.
I wonder why there are Japanese people.
But I think it's because
there are Japanese people
who come to the dentist's office
to help out.
1:03:00
So, it's kind of fun
but it doesn't feel like
I'm in Hawaii at all.
I'm just driving around
looking at the mountains and the sea
and thinking,
oh, I'm in Hawaii.
I see.
So,
people judge you
based on your background.
Don't they?
Yeah.
Japanese people judge me.
That's why I come to Hawaii
and I don't get judged at all.
I have to do what I'm doing
properly.
I see.
In Japan,
people judge you
based on your clothes,
your hair,
your brand,
your wallet,
your bag.
They don't judge you
because you don't have anything.
That's not the case.
So, they judge you
based on that.
In Japan,
people judge you
based on your slippers,
shorts,
and T-shirts.
So,
there's no material
to judge you.
I see.
In Okinawa,
I don't know,
but when I'm with Americans,
their level of
money-making
and intelligence
is not shown
in their clothes at all.
If I don't talk to them,
I don't know
what they think.
But in Japan,
I don't mean to discriminate,
but Japanese people
dress up
and look good
in their clothes,
but when I talk to them,
they think I'm stupid.
I don't mean to discriminate,
but
no matter who you are,
it's important
to talk to them
and judge them.
I think it's important.
Liho's mom,
Shuto's mom,
and I
judge them
based on
what they say
and what they think.
I see.
I see.
So,
I try to be careful
when I talk to them
about my accent,
but I can't change it
because it's already
ingrained in my mind.
I was told the other day
that if I don't change
my accent,
I won't become
a local person.
If I use
a local accent
or local words,
1:06:00
I think
the local people
will feel
relieved.
So,
I try to be careful
when I work.
But
now I'm learning
from my ears,
so
I realized
that
I realized
that
in Hawaii,
they say
think.
Think.
Think.
Think.
Think.
Think.
It's not
think.
Think.
So,
my auntie
always says
poor thing,
poor thing.
Poor thing,
poor thing.
When I was a kid,
I used to say
poor thing,
poor thing.
I thought
it was
poor thing.
But I didn't know
it was
poor thing.
I thought
it was
poor thing.
I thought
it wasn't
poor thing.
But now
I know it,
so
my teeth
came off
because
I said
poor thing,
poor thing.
So,
my reaction
is better.
Wow.
Wow.
You use
that.
Wow.
Isn't it
amazing?
I thought
of the people
who moved to Okinawa
again.
Somehow,
I was like
how do I say
it
with the
person
who said
poor thing,
poor thing.
So,
there are people
who use it a lot
but the intonation
is wrong.
But,
I know
how to say
it.
I know
it's a habit
I have
so
I feel
like
I don't know if it's respect or not, but I think it's good.
I don't want to force myself to get used to it, but I want to get used to it little by little.
I want to live as a Japanese person who doesn't feel uncomfortable.
It's the same for foreigners who don't speak any foreign languages.
Some people just want to remember the greetings.
And when you say it out loud, some people are like, oh.
It's not like you're studying, it's like you're just remembering one thing.
I think it's similar to that.
1:09:01
You can touch people's hearts even if it's just a little.
I feel like there are a lot of Japanese people who are like Leeho in Hawaii.
Isn't there a community like that?
Like my aunt.
She married an American, she moved to Hawaii, and they lived for like 20 years.
She didn't say anything about protein at all.
You just didn't realize it.
Yeah, like she didn't try, I think.
Because she already had a community or something.
If you're going to like a Japanese community, then you don't need to fit in as a local.
But Leeho is working at the local clinic as a local owner.
That's what I felt.
I think it's different depending on the person's work style and position.
If you're in a Japanese wife's community, you don't have to do that.
But from there, for example, when you enter a company where there are only Hawaiians and Americans,
you might feel that way.
That's true.
When I wasn't working, I didn't use English that much.
Just when I was talking to Anju.
After I started working, I only used English.
But it's the same thing.
Because I'm working, I don't feel like I'm creating a new community.
I don't feel like I joined a new community, but I feel like I'm alive.
I feel like I'm alive every day.
That's nice. You're surviving.
You're two girls, right?
Yeah.
You're pretty fluent in English, right?
Yeah, my older son speaks a lot.
He's bilingual.
Yeah, he's bilingual.
At home, I try to speak to my older son in Japanese.
And Anju also tries to speak in Japanese as much as possible.
At school, it's all in English.
That's true. That's a good thing.
But what's really nice is that there are kids from all kinds of countries in Hawaii.
The kids from those countries speak in their mother tongue, which is really respectful.
1:12:04
So, for example, if there's a kid who understands Japanese,
I can take him to the bathroom, but he can't understand what I'm saying,
so I can speak to him in Japanese.
I can take my older son to the bathroom, and he can understand what I'm saying.
It's like a given.
It's like a given for other languages.
It's the same for Chinese and Korean kids.
If they want to speak their mother tongue, they can.
It's really...
It's nice.
I thought it was really international.
Yeah.
Yeah, it's like that.
So, it's like...
It's like I wanted to go to a place like that.
Yeah, I guess that's about it.
Yeah.
In the future, the kids will teach you English.
Yeah.
The other day, I told him to get a fork in Japanese,
but he said,
Mom, it's not a fork, it's a fork.
It's not an R.
I told him to speak in Japanese.
He said that right away.
Egg-shaped.
Yeah, egg-shaped.
I didn't know that in English.
Egg-shaped?
Egg-shaped.
Round shape?
That's right.
Egg-shaped.
That's right.
I forgot.
It's not a secret, so I don't know.
It's like O-V-L.
It's like that.
Can I look it up?
When I was three years old,
I don't know if I can say the shape of a star or a square.
I thought I didn't know.
There are some English words that children don't know.
Yeah.
Like the name of an animal.
I've never heard of it.
Like a fish.
Yeah.
That's right.
It's like O-V-L.
When I was a kid, I didn't know what a buffalo was.
When I was a kid, I didn't even know the Japanese word for buffalo.
Buffalo.
What's a buffalo?
It's a Japanese word.
Is it a Japanese word?
I think it's a Japanese word, but I think it comes from Katakana.
It's like a cow.
Japanese and English are difficult.
Fork is a good example.
It's called fork in Japanese.
There's no Japanese name for it.
It's called a fork.
I don't think you need Katakana in Japan.
Really.
Do you use English?
Yeah.
Katakana is English in the first place.
1:15:01
I don't know if it's a foreign language or a Japanese-language English.
It's not water, but it's easier to learn English if you put it in water.
It's easier if you write it as it is.
I think it's from the Netherlands.
English?
Katakana.
What?
Castella?
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
I think there's a Katakana word that my teacher taught me.
I'm sorry.
It's the opposite.
When you're in English, you can hear Katakana wrong.
Even in Japanese, there are a lot of extra characters in business.
The pronunciation is completely in Japanese.
There are times when it's the other way around.
You can just say it in English.
Who made the cooler?
Cooler is Japanese, isn't it?
No, it's English.
Cooler.
Isn't it AC?
It's air conditioner.
Is it called a cooler?
Cooler is probably in English.
The box you put juice in when you open the door is a cooler.
Cooler.
Cooler in Japanese is...
Cooler?
Is it a person from the seaside?
Air conditioner?
It's air conditioner.
The person who has a container called a cooler.
In the first place, the word cooler was wrong in Japanese.
Because there was a cooler.
It's about air conditioning, right?
There was only a cooler and heating.
Heater.
Heater is a small individual thing.
It's like an outdoor fan.
That's true.
Katakana is certainly strange.
It's strange.
That's why the girl above me is the age to learn Katakana.
She said I don't have to learn it anymore.
I don't do it anymore.
I quit Katakana.
Because the more I got...
It's confusing.
Yes, there is a Katakana table.
Like ice.
Ice is from the beginning.
Ice is an ice cube.
This one.
The one on top is an ice cream cone.
The Japanese version is different.
1:18:00
This is not ice.
It's very confusing.
At that age, if you do that.
That's true.
I said I don't have to do it anymore.
Well, either one is the main thing.
You can learn according to your needs later.
Yes, yes, yes.
But if you learn it from the other side, isn't it amazing?
Learn from Katakana to English?
Yes, yes.
That's right.
It's the same for both.
It's just a matter of which is which.
Because Japanese and English are already established as Japanese.
It's not wrong.
Including that effect.
Yes.
But...
If a Japanese person makes a mistake when learning English,
I think it's better to fix it in Katakana, which is close to the pronunciation.
Yes, yes, yes.
That's right.
Otherwise, everyone will be embarrassed and won't be able to speak.
Oh, yeah.
It's not a table.
It's a table.
You can change it to a table.
But if you say it's a table...
Apple.
It's not Apple.
It's apple.
Yes, yes, yes.
Like that.
If you change it from the beginning, no one will be embarrassed.
That's why.
That's what I think.
Chocolate.
That's chocolate.
Yes.
Katakana is unnecessary.
Do your best with bilingual education.
I'll do my best.
There's a lot to study.
That's right.
That's right.
Then you can go to Japan...
You can go to Hawaii now, right?
That's right.
But I have to get vaccinated.
If you get vaccinated three times, you can go in and out without a corona test.
But I've been seeing a lot of Japanese lately.
Oh, I see.
I was taking a picture of an airplane.
I thought it was definitely Japanese, but when I got in the car, it was Japanese.
But there are more foreigners in Japan, right?
Yes, a lot of tourists.
I really want everyone to come to Japan.
Japan is very popular.
Because it's cheap.
That's true. I think it's really good now.
That's true.
It's amazing.
Then let's do Yes Radio in Hawaii in the near future.
1:21:02
Hawaii.
Let's do it.
It would be nice if you could go back to Japan by then.
What do you mean?
What do you mean by that?
But we can still keep running the business while we live in Japan.
And then Andrew can go back to the office sometime just to see family and friends.
Yeah.
That's the best, Andrew said.
That's the best.
Just for friends.
That's good.
That's it.
The rest is fine.
So before that, I'm working hard at the office.
But in 7 years, I want to sell all my ownership rights.
I can sell them or hire them.
But I want to go to Japan with my hands free.
That's what I'm saying.
As long as he agrees with it.
That's right.
That's cool.
Of course.
I think that's good.
Why the 7 years though?
Why the 7 years?
Oh, 7 years.
That's because of the children's education.
If it's 7 years, the older child is 4 years old now, so 7 plus 7 is 11 years old, right?
It's about time to be a junior high school student.
Are you a junior high school student?
No, you're not.
You're 11 years old.
You're only 11 years old from the age of 13.
I don't really care about elementary school.
I want to move after elementary school.
That's my ideal.
I want to go to Japanese school.
If I can get away from the difficult Japanese.
I can find an international school for English.
So I want to go to an international school and use Japanese at home.
I want to make it the opposite.
If I want to learn Japanese, there are a lot of schools anywhere.
But I want to go to a Japanese school.
There are a lot of schools in Hawaii.
But it's hard to go back to school.
So I want to think about that.
My ideal is 7 years later.
1:24:00
That's amazing.
I didn't think about 7 years later.
Think about it.
But especially if you have kids, it's easier to calculate how old they're gonna be.
That's right.
We talked for too long.
Let's wrap it up.
Thank you for coming to our radio show on a Friday night when you were so tired.
Of course.
I want to go to Hawaii and Okinawa.
I want to live a fun life.
Let's go to Hawaii sometime.
Please come again.
I want to go to an island.
Hawaii.
Let's go to an island in Hawaii.
Oyasuminasai.
Thank you for coming.
Bye.
