Ms. Kazuko Ishihara Love, ICU graduate and Chapter Leader of the ICU Alumni Association of Hawaii, shared her reflections with the Japan ICU Foundation on what ICU has meant to her through the years.

My ICU
by Kazuko Ishihara Love

As I started writing this article for the JICUF e-newsletter, I noticed an email in my inbox. The sender was Paul Kidder. The name did not ring a bell. Perhaps the last name, Kidder was somewhat familiar. The only “Kidder” I knew of was a professor at ICU. His was a familiar name I heard on the ICU campus in the early 70’s. I opened the email. It was indeed from Dr. Kidder’s son sending a group message of his father’s passing. Dr. J. Edward Kidder Jr. had just died at the age 92.

All of a sudden my mind was back in Mitaka, back at the ICU campus. My memories swell up. The beautiful afternoon sun casting on the green lawn in front of Honkan. I’d walk back to my dorm among the trees with golden leaves, sunbeams shining through. Music coming from DMH, mixed with young energetic laughter.

I never took any courses taught by Professor Kidder. I never knew him personally. Yet, the memories of him are still vivid. He lived on campus. Some of my friends and dorm mates hung out at his house. They seem always comfortable there, spending much of their free time at his house. Just like many of us who were welcomed at the professors’ houses if they lived on campus. There we talked about our classes, our futures, our lives. Close and friendly contacts among the teachers and friends–that’s what it meant to live on campus.

So many years have gone by since then. I now live in Honolulu, Hawaii. I have an American husband and two grown kids. I have taught Japanese as a Second Language (thank you, Prof. Koide), have done a lot of conference interpreting, both simultaneous and consecutive (thank you, Prof. Saito). I have given lectures and speeches on Japan vs. U.S. Intercultural Communication (thank you, Prof. Condon). ICU had and has a collection of exceptional teachers. And perhaps, students.

Now I commute between Osaka and Honolulu to see my aging mother and to take care of my family business. I spend many hours volunteering for various Japan-related organizations in Honolulu as well.

But my heart is still with ICU. Currently I am the Shibucho (the Chapter Leader) of the ICU Alumni Association of Hawaii. I am also the representative of Hawaii ICU Alumni for the Japan ICU Foundation of NYC and also serve as a counselor for JICUF. JICUF is a strong force behind ICU and has strong ties with ICU, though not much is known about them by the students and alumni. Among the many things that the Foundation does, they would come to Honolulu in the fall and visit certain high schools to recruit potential students for ICU. They throw dinner gatherings for the local alumni and those high school teachers of Japanese language, and others. This promotes the connections and communication among all of us, ICU related people in Hawaii. The alumni like myself can offer vital information both on the academic level and personal level, based on our experiences at ICU.

To me, an “April student” from Osaka, ICU was a window to the world. Having first-class teachers from Japan and America, I believe I was offered the newest developments and findings of my field. In my sophomore year, Dr. John Condon came to teach as a visiting scholar from the U.S.A. His field was not even completely recognized in the U.S., or anywhere else. Many of my classmates and myself swarmed around his classes, taking every course he offered. We ended up helping Dr. Condon build a bibliography of “Intercultural Communication.” It was an exciting time.

Simultaneous Interpreting (not just Interpretation–Dr. Mitsuko Saito was adamant about distinguishing the usage of these two words) was another course I truly appreciated. At the time, ICU was the only institution in Japan where one could get the training of conference interpreting, both consecutive and simultaneous. Because of Dr. Saito, we could meet then top- notch simultaneous interpreters such as Sen Nishiyama and Masao Kunihiro who were invited to our class. Mr. Nishiyama did the simultaneous interpreting on NHK when Apollo 11 landed on the moon. The famous quote from that landing, “one small step for man, but a giant leap for mankind” could not be translated into Japanese simultaneously on camera. Mr. Nishiyama was telling us how disappointing that was for him not to be able to tell that to the Japanese viewers. It was telecasted from the moon. The interfering noise was incredible. It was just not audible. Even the late Walter Cronkite of the CBS evening news could not hear that right away. So we found out later. It was this kind of excitement we could have in Dr. Saito’s class.

Dr. Fumiko Koide had special courses on Teaching Japanese as a Foreign Language. After taking all those courses, one was certified to teach the language. Thanks to this certification I could support myself during my graduate studies in the United States.

At the JICUF dinners in Honolulu, I always have a chance to speak about my life at ICU. Obviously the academic side of the ICU life is well appreciated, but the whole experience of ICU is much more than that. I always end up reminiscing about my life in the dorm. Everyone at the party chimes in, if they lived in the dorms. Away from home, in the woods of Mitaka, young people with various backgrounds of faiths, races, nationalities, eat, sleep, and of course study under the same roof. We talked, laughed, and shared the cleaning duties of the dorm together.

Only four years, but it seems like a big portion of my life. The memories of ICU fill a large space in my brain and in my heart.