Interview with a Senior

Psychology 240: Developmental Psychology

Project C - Interview: An Oral History

Max Mochizuki

University of Hawaii Maui College

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Kay Mochizuki

For my project, I decided to interview Kay Mochizuki, my grandfather on my mothers

side. I have always been in contact with both of my grandparents, but never really understood

where they came from. This project helped do exactly that, and taught me how different the

world was for my grandfather.

Kay Mochizuki was born on September 6th, 1939. He grew up in a small house in

Wailuku, Hawaii where he would live for the rest of his childhood. There he lived with his

mother, Tshiro, and two older brothers, Donald and Roy. Unfortunately when Kay was six

months old his father, Torao, passed away, leaving his mother to raise the three boys. Kay went

to Wailuku Elementary School and later Iao Intermediate School. For high school, he went to

Baldwin High School before graduating and enlisting in the U.S military. There he served three

years in Germany and flew back to Oahu in search of work.

While in Oahu, Kay looked for many various jobs to help with the costs of living. While

working for an electric company, he was sent to Kauai where he would meet his future wife,

Margaret. Upon returning to Oahu, Kay went to school to become an electrician, which landed

him a career working in Pearl Harbor. Later on, Margaret came to Oahu for beauty school and

eventually got married. In 1969, the two would have their firstborn, Lisa, and after six more

years their second child, Lynn. Kay eventually had a house built in Kaneohe where he would

later reside in to this day. Kay spends his free time today gardening in his backyard or golfing

with friends.

During our interview, Kay mentioned that he did not associate with any religion. When

he was a kid, his family was very Buddhist and adopted many Japanese traditions. To this day,
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Kay does not have a religion, which is peculiar for someone in late adulthood. People in this

stage of their lives often pick up religions due to a belief in an afterlife. (Berger, 2010, p. 550)

Kay shows that he has accepted many of the aspects of aging, including his own death which is a

sign of good mental health. (Berger, 2010, p. 580)

From an early age, Kay demonstrated a lot of sacrifice. He was able to accept the death of

his father and knew he was different from most others in that he only had one parent. Because of

this, Kay helped out his mother as best as he could and tried not to give her a hard time. During

his childhood, his family didnt have much money and he had to rely on making his own fun. He

told me that he didnt get shoes until he was in 8th grade where it was required. After high school,

he chose to go into the military so that his family wouldnt have to pay lots of money for him to

go to college.

During the interview Kay said that his biggest fear was getting Alzheimers disease, but

for a unique reason. He didnt want to become a burden for others to take care of him. Much like

the continuity theory, Kay was able to continue showing great amounts of sacrifice for his family

to this day.

Kay mentions that as a kid he often felt challenged by the world, and got frustrated many

times. When he was struggling in school, he didnt have a fatherly figure to help him or give

advice. For this reason, he got frustrated a lot but eventually understood that he was different

from most other kids. This lightly demonstrates the egocentrism of adolescence, and how most

kids do not understand that everything isnt always about themselves. (Berger, 2010, p. 333) Kay

learned from an early age that his mother was struggling and had a lot of responsibility from an
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early age. It can be inferred that the hardships of his childhood forced him out of egocentrism at

a very early age, and developed a broader sense of empathy.

Kay also shows a strong passion for maintaining his house, something common for most

people in late adulthood. (Berger, 2010, p. 548) Much of his free time today is spent out in his

backyard trimming his Areca palms, mowing his lawn, or picking oranges from his orange tree.

On top of his hobby of golfing, Kay is still very active and maintains good nutrition with the help

of his wife, Margaret, who cooks meals daily. Being raised in mostly Japanese environments,

both Kay and Margaret have adopted many of the traditional roles of a husband and wife.

Margaret has adopted the role of a house maid that cooks and cleans, while Kay has adopted the

role of the working man who works the job and yard.

Despite not going to college, Kay showed a lot of wisdom and knowledge. He credits the

military with teaching him how to survive and self-discipline. This carried into the many jobs

that he would take after his military career. Being raised by traditional Japanese methods also

taught him many values such as to not embarrass the family. This saying made Kay think very

critically before making decisions and in turn helped him make better choices. He also has lived

for a considerably long time, giving him experience with most things that the average person will

deal with in their life. (Berger, 2010, p. 528)

When asked about what brings him pleasure and sadness in his life, he responded saying

that he was happy to be able to see his children and grandchildren being successful in life.

Having both of his daughter graduate college made him very proud because he wasnt able to go

to college himself. Something that Kay was sad about in life was all the homelessness in Hawaii.
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From my inferences, it seemed that he was sad about this particular topic because he himself was

raised in a very low-income family.

Personally I really enjoyed this interview. I was able to learn more about the life of my

grandfather and see how he has changed as a person throughout his lifetime. This year he turns

77 years old and is still going strong, but I dont want to take these years for granted. My

grandfather also had a good time with this interview because he was able to look back onto his

life and revisit all the things that he has done. This gave me a new perspective on life and taught

me to enjoy it while I am still young. I would definitely do something like this in the future, and

would highly recommend that others do this as well to become more in touch with those that

may not be around much longer.

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References:

Kay Mochizuki. Personal Interview. 1 May 2016.

Berger, K. S. (2010). Invitation to the Life Span. New York: Worth.

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Students Name: Max Mochizuki

Date of Interview: 5/1/16
1. First Name: Kay
2. Male
3. Birth Date: September 6th, 1939
4. Birthplace: Wailuku, Hawaii
5. Present Citizenship: United States
6. Siblings: Roy (80 years old) and Donald (Deceased)
7. Interviewees place among siblings: Youngest
8. Married
9. Spouses name: Margaret
10. Children: Lisa (47 years old) and Lynn 41 years old)
11. Ethnicity: Japanese
12. Languages Spoken: English
13. Listing of places lived prior to now and when: Wailuku, Hawaii and Kaneohe,
Hawaii
16. Mothers Maiden Name: Tshiro
Ethnicity: Japanese
17. Fathers Name: Torao
Ethnicity: Japanese
18. Maternal Grandparents (Names, Ethnicity, Immigration, etc.)
19. Paternal Grandparents (Names, Ethnicity, Immigration, etc.)
20. Education:
Elem. School: Wailuku Elementary School
Middle School: Iao Intermediate School
High School: Baldwin High School
College: N/A
Other: Military
21. Brief Work Experience: Electrician at Pearl Harbor, Construction
22. Hobbies/Interests: Golf, Sports
23. Religion: N/A (Parents were Buddhists)
24. Organizations past and present: Golf club,
25. What did/do your parents do for a living? : Father passed away.
26. Did your grandparents or others live in your house when you were growing up?
No
What was their role in your family?
(Barely remembers grandparents)
27. What kind of responsibilities did you have at home?
Washed dishes
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Did your brothers and sisters have similar responsibilities?

Did more of the bigger chores.
What was considered womens work and mens work in your family?
Women cooked and cleaned, men worked a job
28. What did your daily meals consist of when you were growing up?
Whatever mother would make for us, didnt have too much money
29. What did you do for recreation?
Played with friends behind house, set up a mini track, went hunting, made toys
Did you have family or community outings?
No
Were there any special holidays that your family celebrated?
No
30. What values do you think were passed on to you by your family, church,
school, etc.?
Dont embarrass the family,
31. If applicable, what was Maui like when you were growing up?*
Sugar train system, sugar runoff into ocean, almost no paved roads, Hawaii became
a state
Aside from the physical changes, how has Maui changed?*
A lot more technology (for the better and some for the worse), more roads and
houses