Sano-Konman Family Papers

Noriko “Hilda” Sano-Konman (May 2, 1921- April 21, 2011) was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, where she would live and work for the rest of her life. Hilda’s father was Hiroshi/Kan Sano, a Japanese national who immigrated to Hawaii with his wife in 1899 to work on a plantation. Hilda had two siblings. She went by both Noriko and Hilda through high school and was primarily called Hilda post high school. Noriko graduated from McKinley High School in 1939. Hilda worked in Fort Armstrong’s Post Exchange in Honolulu, Hawaii circa 1943 and continued to work in an army exchange until at least February 1947. Noriko and Hideo met sometime after he moved to Kauai in 1948. Noriko and Hideo married in July 1949 in Hawaii. Noriko then worked at an office in Oahu. Noriko and Hideo traveled extensively domestically and internationally in the 1970s-1990s. These trips included East Asia, Southeast Asia and Europe. Noriko went to Japan in fall 1986, winter 1994 and winter 1995, possibly to visit Hideo’s relatives in the Kansai area. Noriko died April 21, 2011 in Honolulu.

Hideo “Jack” Konman (March 7, 1921-January 25, 2008) was born in Seattle, Washington. He was the youngest child of Kuro Konman (February 3, 1879-March 14, 1945) and Haruye Watanabe Konman (ca. 1897-1924). His father held various occupations including farm laborer, shampooer, food peddler, fireman, and Buddhist minister/priest. His mother was a homemaker. His parents married in Okayama, Japan on September 22, 1912. Haruye Konman sued Kuro Konman for divorce on July 27, 1924 in Tacoma, Washington claiming that he physically abused her and refused to provide for her financially even though he owned an unspecified business. They did not own any property. The status of the divorce was unclear when Haruye died later in 1924. Kuro Konman did not remarry. Hideo had two siblings, Kazuyo “Jane” Konman Matsukawa (July 11, 1914-1996) and Eiko “Vicky” Konman (May 17, 1918-February 13, 1948).

The family lived the state of Washington and then relocated to Los Angeles, California some time before 1930.The entire family may have moved from Los Angeles to Berkeley, California when Eiko entered college. Hideo attended high school in Berkeley, but did not graduate. In December 1937, their father, Kuro Konman, became ill. It appears that Eiko then had to quit college and the family returned to Los Angeles. In September 1940, Kuro had a debilitating stroke. After the stroke, he was partially paralyzed and unable to work. While Kazuyo cared for her father, Eiko worked as a salesperson at the Yamato (possibly an art and dry goods store) while Hideo held various jobs including auto mechanic, truck farm laborer, and crate builder.

On February 19, 1942 U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 authorizing the forced removal and incarceration without due process of more than 120,000 U.S. citizens and legal aliens of Japanese ancestry from the West Coast to inland internment camps. On May 6, 1942 the U.S. government forcibly removed the Konman family from their home to the horse stalls of the Santa Anita Racetrack in Arcadia, California, a temporary holding area. On October 16, 1942 the U.S. government removed the family from the West Coast to Rohwer Relocation Center near McGehee, Arkansas, one of ten U.S. internment camps. The family lived there for two and a half years. One month before being released from internment camp, Kuro Konman died on March 14, 1945.

In 1944, Hideo Konman left the Rohwer Relocation Center for Chicago to work at the White Pines Golf Club. According to Hideo, Chicago was known as a good place for Japanese Americans to find jobs. While in Chicago, he was drafted into the military. He served in the U.S. Army from January 8, 1945 to November 28, 1945. He trained at Fort Knox, Kentucky and at the Military Intelligence Service at Fort Snelling, Minnesota. Based on the appeal of Kazuyo and Eiko to his commanding officer, Hideo was discharged from the Army and moved to Chicago at the end of 1945 to help support his sisters who had been authorized to leave camp earlier that year.

In February 1948, Eiko died of leukemia. In May 1948, Hideo sailed from Los Angeles to Honolulu [to move to Kauai, Hawaii]. He was stationed in Fort Shaftner, Honolulu in 1948. Fort Shaftner and Fort Armstrong were a mere four miles apart; presumably this is how Noriko and Hideo met. In July 1949, Hideo married Noriko "Hilda" Sano in Hawaii. They would make their home in Honolulu. Kazuyo married Kenjiro “Henry” Matsukawa (August 25, 1910-March 1, 1987) on July 9, 1949 in Herrin, Illinois. Kazuyo and Hideo stayed in frequent contact and would travel to visit each other. Neither Hideo and Noriko nor Kazuyo and Kenjiro had any children.

Hideo made several visits to Japan in his lifetime. The first documented visit in in October 1975 in which he visited a family grave in Okayama and relatives Naohiro (b. 1941?) and Tomoko (married 1969) and their young children living in Jooyoo-shi. Most of the Konman family came from Okayama, with several branches of families in Tokyo and Jooyoo-shi, a city in Kyoto prefecture located halfway between Kyoto and Nara. Family from Japan would also occasionally visit Hideo in Hawaii. In his later years, Hideo would travel extensively domestically and internationally with Hilda. Hideo was a musician, either recreationally or professionally, for most of his life. Photos and videos within the collection document Jack playing in a band or solo from then 1940s onwards. He appears to have played a slide guitar or similar instrument.

Hiroshi/Kan Sano, (December 17, 1881-?) was born in Miyagi-ken, a prefecture in the Tohoku region of Japan on December 17, 1881. Hiroshi married before first coming to Honolulu in October 1899 to work on a plantation. Although Hiroshi was a permanent resident of the US, his parents stayed in Japan. Hiroshi had three children, one of whom was Noriko "Hilda" (Sano) Konman. Hiroshi worked as a chauffeur in the late 1920s and also owned his own auto painting shop for a time. In the late 1930s and early 1940s, Hiroshi worked for the Fort Armstrong Post Exchange as a yardman. Hilda would work at the same exchange for several years after completing high school. At some point in his career, Hiroshi may have worked for the Hawaii Hochi Sha, a printing company and bindery known for printing the Hawaii Herald that has been in business since 1912.

Source: Hilda Konman

Konman, Jack Hideo

Sano, Hiroshi