Zero in Hawaii

The Burning of ZERO #BII-120

2006-12-14T01:35:00.000-08:00

December 13th – Following the assault of Pearl Harbor, the Zero pilot Nishikaichi and the Japanese American Harada died after burning Nishikaichi’s Zero on Niihau Island - exactly 65 years ago. After 50 days of assembly and exhibition, the Zero was carried out from the UH Art Gallery. It took about 50 volunteers to carry the airplane, and over 200 people came to see this event.

ニイハウ島でゼロ線のパイロット西開地と日系の２世である原田が零戦に火をかけて、死んだちょうど６５年目の今日、１２月１３日。
５０日間に及ぶ制作と展示の後、ギャラリーからボランティアによってゼロは運び出された。担いでいる人はおよそ5０名。集まった人はおそらく２００名を越えるだろう。

The volunteers first carried the Zero to the Peace Memorial, turned around, and continued to Hawaii Hall, the historically significant site on the University of Hawaii campus. There was a bunker against the Japanese bombing during the war. The Zero was quietly set on the ground in front of Hawaii Hall. The march took about 30 minutes. People commented that when the Zero circled around the parking lot in front of Hawaii Hall, the march went fast and it was rather comical.

ギャラリーから運び出されたゼロは，大学のピースメモリアルまでゆき、そこからUターンして，このハワイ大学で最も歴史のあるハワイホール、しかも大戦中に爆弾の為のシェルターが造られた場所に静かに降ろされた。その間、約３０分。最後の駐車場のロータリーを廻る頃はとても速くて、コミカルな感じがしたらしい。

I placed a small stack of old newspapers in the cockpit. An elderly volunteer gave me these newspapers from WWII era and asked me to burn them with the Zero. (He said it was sad news.) I set the right wing on fire first, and the Zero began to burn quickly. The Zero caught fire very fast and it was really hot. This was the fastest burning I had ever experienced. In the past burnings, small fire and smoke remained for a long time, but today the Zero burned quickly and completely. It was faster than we expected and had told the State Department of Health. The wind blew the ashes. The firefighters were on standby, but they didn’t put water on the Zero because they understood the importance of re-growth of the grass for the Zero Project.

一緒に燃やして欲しいと預かった戦争当時の新聞を，コックピットの中に入れる。
右翼から火を付け、瞬く間に燃焼した。ひどく速いそして熱い。こんなに速いバーニングは初めてだ。いつもだったら小さな火が最後まで残って，くすぶり続けるのに，あっという間に完全燃焼だ。州の厚生省に届けを出した時間を上回る速さである。待機していた消防自動車も、火がおちるまで、そのまま見ていてくれ、とうとう一滴の水も掛けずに立ち去った。灰が風によって運ばれ，こげた芝生が又再生する様子にこそ、この作品の最も重要な意味があることを理解してくれているようだ。

One of the people in the crowd was Seizaburo Taba, the member of the 100th Infantry Battalion. He gave me the poster of the 65th anniversary of Pearl Harbor assault, and the US flag, which was used in the anniversary ceremony and flown on December 7th. Do I really deserve to receive these? The weight of these presents is overwhelming. Just like the old newspapers I was asked to burn, the Zero provokes memories that participants have almost forgotten or kept deep inside. My father also flew from Japan. During the symposium at the Japanese Cultural Center the night before, he was asked to say a few words. It was probably his first time in public to talk about his experience as a Zero maintenance crew in Nagasaki. He is scheduled to go through an operation for liver cancer as soon as he gets home.

A senior pastor whose father was a Zero pilot asked me for the ashes of the Zero as a keepsake. I was told that she cried while the zero burned. I lost words as I faced her. As the Zero Project continues, it has absorbed all the memories, and the project unexpectedly grew much larger than I initially anticipated.

I would like to thank Lisa Yoshihara, the director of the UH Art Gallery, Thomas Klobe, the former director of the gallery, and the gallery staff for making this project happen. I also would like to thank Aaron Kerner, an excellent curator and a good friend. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to all the volunteers and participants. Arigato!

この様子をみていた、あの勇敢な日系の100部隊の生き残りである、タバ　セイザブロウさんから、開戦６５周年のアニバーサリーに使ったポスターと星条旗を頂いた。果たして，こうしたものを私がもらっていいのだろうか？　あまりにも重すぎるプレゼントである。新聞といい，国旗といい、このプロジェクトを見守る多く参加者のひとり一人が自分の抱いている重い記憶をこのプロジェクトに重ねてくれている。今回は，とうとう日本から私の父もこのバーニングに参加してくれた。昨夜の日本文化センターでのシンポジュームにおいて、特に指名され自分が長崎で零戦の整備士であったことを発言をしたところである。おそらく人の前で公に話をしたのは，初めての筈だ。彼は帰国後すぐに、肝臓がんの検査の為に入院する。
また、零戦パイロットを父親に持つキリスト教の牧師からは、今日燃やした灰を父の形見として欲しいと言われる。焼却している間，ずーと泣いていたのだそうだ。あまりの真剣な表情に、返答をする言葉を無くした。
回を重ねるごとに，ゼロプロジェクトは人々の重く哀しい記憶を吸収し、誰も予想もしない大きさに成長している。このプロジェクトを企画してくれたハワイ大学の美術館のディレクター、Lisa Yoshihara、前ディレクターのThomas Klobeをはじめとする，美術館関係者の皆さん、そして友人であり優れたキューレターであるAaron Kernerに最大の感謝を捧げたい。そして、ボランティアの皆さん、参加者の皆さん、本当にありがとう。

100th Infantry Battalion ,100部隊

2006-11-24T19:35:00.000-08:00

BII-120 has finally completed. This floats in the air and swings sideways.

I have visited the office where 100 veterans gathered this morning. An interesting story was shared by 2 veterans, Martin Tohara and Rikio Tsuda (picture: second from top). They have been to the war; even when they were injured, they escaped from the hospital and fought. After 3 times of doing so, their uniforms were taken away. They fought because they did not want their parents to be shamed. I found that this idea of humiliation was very same as what Japanese had during WWII. The story reminded me of a crew of the zero, Minoru Honda: He had undergone an operation for appendicitis and was in the hospital when an air-raid alarm went on. As soon as he heard the alarm, he left the hospital unconsciously and fought in the zero. While he was fighting, his intestines were coming out from his stomach. What is common in Martin and Rikio are that they pass down what they learned from their parents to the next generations and they are proud of being able to share their experience.　I felt that they preserve the way of thinking before WWII more than Japanese today.

BII-120が、ようやく完成しました。この機体は、床から浮いていて、ちょっとしたことで、ゆらゆらと揺れます。

今日は午前中、１００部隊のベテランが集う事務所に行ってきました。
興味深かったのは、写真のお二人（Tohara MartinとTsuda Rikioさん）のお話で、戦地へ行って、少々怪我をしても負けずに戦ったそうで、病院から抜け出して、前線に戻ったそうです。とうとう３回目には、戦闘服を隠されてしまった。どうして、そんなに駆り立てられたかというと、両親の恥になると考えたのです。この恥の観念は、まったく日本人のメンタリティーではありませんか。
お話を聞きながら、零戦の搭乗員（本田稔氏）のことを思い出しました。
ー彼は、盲腸の手術をして病院に入院していたところ、空襲警報が鳴ったので無意識に病院から飛び出して、ゼロ戦で戦っていたら腸が飛び出してしまったー。
お二人に共通するのは、親からの教えを、子供達に伝え、誇りを持っている点です。戦前の日本人の考えが、現在の日本よりも、よく保存されていると感じました。

Zero floats in the air/零戦浮く！

2006-11-23T19:18:00.000-08:00

Gallery does not open on Thanksgiving Day. Therefore, we worked hard so as to complete working on the Zero night before. The body finally got lifted up last night around 11:30. There are some parts that are not perfect, but it looks good for now. Even though there are frames inside of the body in order to let it float in the air, I think it will not be evident that there are frames, which is a very critical point for this scripture.
I am grateful for those volunteers and gallery attendants who worked till late at night.

Katsu

今日はThanksgiving day.

ギャラリーも今日ばかりは開きません。
そこで、なんとか、昨日のうちに展示をすまそうと頑張りました。
夜の１１時３０分頃、やっと機体が浮きました。
まだ、不完全な部分もありますが、なんとか格好がつきました。
浮かべているのですから、当然、内部にフレームが入っていますが、
たぶんフレームは感じられないでしょう。
これは、この彫刻のとても大事な点です。
夜遅くまで、手伝ってくれたボランティアの皆さん、ギャラリー担当者の皆様
ありがとうございました。

Katsu comes back to Hawaii./中ハシ，再びハワイにやってきました

2006-11-20T08:26:00.000-08:00

中ハシが１８日に戻ってきました。日本で，別のゼロプジェクトの焼却を行っていたのです。
さっそく、エンジン部分が完成致しました。内側から，ダクトテープで留めてくれたのは、ウラタニご夫妻です。実はギャラリーは空調が停まっていて、中は狭くてとても暑く、大変な作業でした。ご苦労さまでした。
今日から，機体を空中に浮かす作業に入ります。機体を床からほんの少し浮かせたいのです。このインスタレーションをする場合は、フレームをどうしても入れなくてはならない部分もあり、相当技術が要ります。
ともかく、これから，正念場をむかえます。

I have returned from Japan on 18th after finishing the burning of Ohka Zero project in Japan.
As soon as I came back, we finished the engine part. Mr. and Mrs. Uratani taped the part together from the inside. The air conditioner was out of order today so the gallery was really hot. Hence the inside of the engine part was very tight and stuffy. It was even hotter than the outside and it was a hard operation. Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Uratani.
Starting from today, we will be lifting the entire body of the Zero. I would like to lift it a little from the floor. This will require a lot of technique, since there needs to be a frame in the airplane. This is a very hard part of the project.

Katsu

Reconstructing Memories

2006-11-18T02:43:00.000-08:00

日本から

2006-11-17T00:31:00.000-08:00

昨日、日本から　震電プロジェクト（福岡）に参加された方が　
ハワイでもボランティアに参加する為に　お越しになりました。

前回の参加者が、また参加されることは　本当に嬉しい事です

さらに、前回の参加者が　その後のプロジェクトに参加される事で
プロジェクトに面白い動きを与えるのではないかと期待しています
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　三家

Yoko Nakao, a volunteer from Shinden Zero project in Fukuoka, has arrived in Honolulu yesterday. She came to help out Zero project.
I am happy to have her as a returnee.
It will be exciting to have a volunteer from the previous project, since she can share some of her experiences.

Toshihiko Mitsuya
Project Assistant

　

主翼、機体下部　完成

2006-11-13T03:57:00.000-08:00

今日は　日曜日ということもあり
飛び入りの方を含め１０人のボランティアの方がお越しになりました

私が直接指示しなくても　ボランティアの方たち同士だけで　
「あーでもない　こーでもない」と話し合って　丁寧に作業なさる様子は
とても気持ちの良いものでした

Since it was Sunday, total of 10 volunteers were working on the Zero today. Everyone was talking to each other trying to figure out how to do it without me telling what to do. This is a part of this project's concept which is making a relationship between people to reconstruct their memories and I felt good about this.

Toshihiko Mitsuya
Project Assistant

Old newspaper

2006-11-11T03:56:00.000-08:00

今日は祭日だということもあり　たくさんのボランティアの方がおこしになりました

ボランティアではないのですが　Hawaiiの大戦中の非常の古い新聞をも持ってこられて
「悪いニュースなので、ZEROと一緒に燃やしてほしい　」
とおっしゃる方が　おこしになりました

Today, we had many volunteers since it was a holiday. One person brought an old newspaper during the WWII, and asked us to burn it with the Zero because it was a "bad" news.

Toshihiko Mitsuya
Project Assistant

展覧会　三日目

2006-11-10T03:49:00.000-08:00

展覧会　三日目
主翼裏の一枚が完成しました

一枚を展覧会会場で二日間かけて　つくる間　たくさんの方が訪れ

ボランティアでは　ハワイ島から飛び入りで３日連続参加の方や
日本やハワイについての、貴重なお話ゆっくり語って下さった日系の方
、一日に何度も訪れ進行具合を見守ってくださる方など
様々な方の参加や協力によって　プロジェクトが支えられている事を強く感じました。

三家俊彦

The 3rd day:
We completed the back side of the main wing with a lot of help from the volunteers in these past two days; a person from the Big Island who came three days in a row, many local Nikkei people (they got plenty stories to talk about!), and some people who visited more than one time a day just to check how we were doing. I strongly feel that this Zero Project is supported and made possible by people like YOU;)

Toshihiko Mitsuya
Project Assistant　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

Thank you

2006-11-09T12:19:00.000-08:00

I want to express my gratitude to everyone who has contributed to the exhibition and to Katsu’s Zero Project. I’m very pleased with the progress that has been made with the Zero, which has exceeded everyone’s expectations. I also want to extend special thanks to those volunteers who’ve dedicated time over-and-above what was expected of them, specifically, Abel. Likewise I want to express gratitude to Yoko who has also helped to construct the Zero and also designed the catalogue for the exhibition. In addition, Aki, has been extremely helpful in building the Zero (she got quite quick at piecing photographs together) and who has also been of tremendous help in translating blog entries.

I’m back in San Francisco for the time being (I had to come back and teach), but I look forward to coming back in December to complete the cycle/process of the Hawaii Zero Project.

Aaron Kerner
Curator

展覧会初日

2006-11-07T23:34:00.000-08:00

展覧会初日です
オープニングでいったん展示されたZEROは　
一部を残して　解体され

展覧会中　再びボランティアと共に制作される事になります

Today was the first day of this exhibition. The Zero was assembled in a life size plain and displayed in the gallery for the opening reception. Some parts of the Zero will be disassembled again to be constructed with volunteers during the exhibition.

Project assistant
Toshihiko Mitsuya

Openning

2006-11-06T12:20:00.000-08:00

今日は Reconstructing Memories オープニングレセプションです。
ZEROは一時的に展示されました。

この平たくつぶれたような形のZEROは　この日　一日だけの展示になりました

We had our opening reception for the exhibition of Reconstructing Memories today. The flat Zero (picture) was temporarily displayed in the gallery only for today.

Project assistant
Toshihiko Mitsuya

2 more days

2006-11-03T02:13:00.000-08:00

こんにちは
中ハシさんの帰国の為、引き続き三家がブログを更新します。　

昨日今日でコックピット、水平尾翼、垂直尾翼、胴体後部が完成しました。
二日後にオープニングをむかえ、順調に進んでいます

ボランティアの中には　英語の苦手な私の代わりに手順を説明してくれる方や通訳してくれる方、
予定が入っていないのだけれど、何度も訪れ作業されていく方など
より深く関わろうとしてくださる方が増えてきたように思います。
これからが楽しみです。

Hello, I'm Toshihiko Mitsuya. I just got here a couple days ago to take over the project for Katsu. Since he is away, I will take over this blog also. I will try my best to describe what is going on in the gallery;)

The cockpit, the tail unit, and the rear half of the body of the Zero were completed today, and the whole construction process is going really well and getting closer to completion. It should be ready anytime, and most of it will be completed for the opening on this comming Sunday, the 5th of November.

I see a number of really diligent people coming back to particitape in this Zero Project as much as they can, like the people who's translating for me (I'm not really good at English). People have been coming in even though they are not shceduled. I'm really excited.

19 Volunteers ＋ α

2006-11-02T02:54:00.000-08:00

私、中ハシは日本に一旦帰りました。今自宅に着いたばかりです。
昨日のギャラリーには、朝、昼と立て続けにボランティアが来られ、写真を全て、貼り終えました。素晴らしいスピードです。この報告を聴いた、日本から制作にやって来ようとしていたボランティアは、少し失望している様です。することが無くなったと言って、、。
今からは、機体の組み立てに入りますが、ココでは、慎重に仕事を進めて行く為に、人数を限定して５人程度迄で行います。
既に登録している方は、ご遠慮してもらう場合も出てきそうです。申し訳ありませんが、宜しくお願い致します。
さて、写真に写っているボランティアは１９人、更に何人かいました。どうもありがとうございます。

それから、このブログに、ご感想やご意見を多数お待ちしています。
皆さんの意識やお考えを聴きたいからです。
これもどうぞ宜しくお願い致します。

中ハシは１９日にそちらに戻ります。

I returned to Japan for my other project going on in Shiga prefecture...I JUST got home actually.

The Zero Project in Hawaii is going so well and so fast. Yesterday, all the taping process was finished by the volunteers who came in the morning and around lunch time everything was done. This is amazing! My other volunteers who are helping me in Japan were a little dissapointed because they were planning to go to Hawaii to help those in Hawaii but there isn't much more to do ...

From this point we are starting to construct the body of the Zero. Unfortunately, we are going to have to minimize the number of volunteers to 5 at the most during this phase of the construction process. I'm really sorry if this is dissapointing to volunteers scheduled over the next couple of weeks, and I appreciate your understanding and patience.

By the way, we had 19 volunteers (and maybe even more!) yesterday. Thank you very much for your participation and interests in my Zero Project!

Please feel free to write comments regarding the project, share stories you had with other volunteers, or anything else you might like to include. I hope to hear from you soon!

p.s. I will be back in Hawaii on the 19th.

Second Visit with Jane Komeiji

2006-10-31T07:03:00.000-08:00

ジェーン古明地さんが再び、やって来ました。今度は日本の高校生に説明した時の手記を持って来られ、それを私が読みながら、質問致しました。ハワイ移民の歴史と日本人の置かれて来た立場、とその推移がよく判りました。感想としては、ともかく良く働き、偏見や差別に負けないようにして、力一杯働いた様子がありありと判りました。その様子は、実はこのプロジェクトにも現れています。ともかく、よく働きます。写真を貼りはじめて４日ですが、８０％が終わりました。しかも、左主翼の表側は完成しました。
南国の緩やかなイメージは完全に無くなり、日系人の勤勉な性格が印象づけられました。こんなスピードでプロジェクトが進行したのは初めてです。

Again, Jane visited the gallery with her notes. She used these notes when she had an orientation for Japanese high school students. While I was reading through her notes, I was impressed by these finely described histories of Japanese immigrants in Hawaii and their situation, and the transition of their status through time. It was obvious that they worked really hard in harsh conditions and under great discrimination. I see some similarities in these experiences and my Zero Project.

Since we started taping pictures together just 4 days ago, 80% of the process has already been done by volunteers. UH faculty and staff, and all other people participating in this project, have already put together the top of the left wing; the wing is lifes-size. I was expecting the typical easy-going local attitude, but it was remarkable that many people (of course many Nikkei people) worked really hard together. This is the first time ever that the project has gone so well and so fast.

Visit by Nikkei

2006-10-29T11:58:00.000-08:00

昨日は、お年を召した日系人の方が大勢お越しになりました。彼らのほとんどが日本語で話すのを恥ずかしがって、英語でお話しになります。でも、私の日本語がよく判るし、時々話す日本語はとてもきれいなのです。私は彼らと話しながら、以前、中学生の時に英語の先生と話しているような気持ちになりました。私が下手な英語と日本語で話したら、先生は必ず英語でしか、返答しませんでした。笑

いずれにしても、このプロジェクトがハワイに住む日系人に受け入れられていることがよく判りました。とても嬉しいです。

There were plenty local Japanese people (Nikkei) visited the gallery yesterday.Most of them are really shy about their Nihongo (Japanese) and talked to me in English, however they understood my Japanese really well and their Japanese is quite fluent.

While I was talking to them, I remember my junior high school days...Those teachers only talked to me in English even when I tried to talk to them in Japanse.

I realized that this project is well accepted by the local Japanese people and I'm really happy about this:)

Putting the Zero together

2006-10-29T11:11:00.000-08:00

Katsushige Nakahashi gave a demonstration on how to construct the Zero. Click here to see the first 7 minutes of this demonstration.

Once the photos are assembled into sheets, then we will begin to assemble the plane.

Welcome to Zero in Hawaii

2006-10-26T01:53:00.000-07:00