Kubota By Garret Hong Kongo Analysis

After I read a remarkable story by Garret Hongo, titled Kubota, the moral issues were all too apparent. Hongo told the story of his grandfather, Kubota, a Japanese American accused of espionage subsequent to the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 8, 1941. Kubota, along with thousands of other Japanese Americans, was taken into a “camp” because he was suspected of having ties with Japan. It changed Kubota. What they’ve been through caused him much anger and sadness as to compel Hongo to tell the story to others. The war caused Kubota to be extremely outspoken about his experience, but the rest of the community tried to forget everything that had happened; they wanted to suppress and repress the information and their thoughts. Kubota was fortunate, however; he was released from the camps in a few days; others didn’t see their families for as long as four years. The lesson that I learned from this narrative is the one that I “learn” all too often: xenophobia is, not only irrational, but utterly unjustifiable cruelty.

While the community had tried to forget about their history, Kubota simply couldn’t let it go. This is how Hongo described it: “It was as if we had no history for four years and the relocation was something unspeakable. But Kubota would not let it go. In session after session, for months it seemed, he pounded away at his story” (Hongo, p.). It made Kubota passionate about his story and what his community had been through. He implored Hongo, his grandson, to tell the story of his family. From what I can see, through his poetry, books, and confessional writings that I’ve read, Hongo certainly fulfilled his grandfather’s