Interview with Raina Ouye

By: Deidre Tegarden

A KEEN INTEREST IN HISTORY, Japanese culture, and personal knowledge of the Nisei story (her great uncle was 442nd Regimental Combat Team veteran Toshio Ansai) make Raina Ouye a perfect fit for the Nisei Veterans Memorial Center (NVMC).

A junior at UH-Hilo, Raina has been helping at the center on her college breaks for the past several years. Going out on sales calls, selecting recipes for the Weekly Wednesday Update, and assisting with the day-to-day office tasks have been a huge help for the NVMC, but it is perhaps being involved with our movie events that excites Raina the most.

“I really like anime (Japanese animated movies),” Raina said. “Anime is different than cartoons, and has the ability to relay difficult topics in a more accessible form. Like last week’s Movie Matinee ‘The Wind Rises’ about Jiro Horikoshi, the Japanese engineer who designed fighter planes during WWII. Anime is a great way to learn about history.”

An East-Asian history major, Raina shared that it is important to learn not only the mistakes of the past — so that we don’t make them again — but that there are many important lessons and values handed down through the generations that are very relevant today.

“We can make better decisions today, by understanding the ‘whats, whys and hows’ of the past,” she explained.

Raina is currently studying the Satsuma Rebellion of 1877. “It was a time of change. The Emperor wanted to modernize Japan but the Samurai wanted to keep their traditions. The conflict between wanting change and keeping traditions is very interesting to me. I wonder how it would have been if each side could have embraced each other a bit more. I think the anime ‘Demon Slayer’ speaks to this battle of change versus tradition … maybe that’s why it’s my favorite.”

When asked what she likes most about working at the NVMC, Raina sited that she likes learning how to work in a business setting including having a dress code and engaging with lots of different people. “But I really enjoyed getting to learn more about my great uncle, as well as talking with Mr. Nagoshi about his father.”

When she is not working at the office, Raina enjoys golfing with her dad, playing with her baby nephew, and she is currently getting ready for a semester abroad at Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan.

“After I graduate I want to work at the Nisei Veterans Memorial Center,” she said.

“I would like to try my hand at creating an exhibit geared toward the younger generation. Maybe something like how manga and anime can tell the story of WWII. There are a number of manga and anime that speak specifically to WWII including Studio Ghibli movies, Stacy Hayashi’s ‘Journey of Heroes’ and the manga and anime ‘Barefoot Gen.’”

Whatever Raina decides to do, we know that she is going to make a positive impact on the world, and we can’t wait to see all that she does!