Interview 20517 – Caption Index: 38
How did that occur?… Read More
How did that occur?… Read More
At that time, the culture of Japan, which may seem so fascinating to so many people, really got to me. It’s a highly hierarchical culture. You are not an individual person. You are not Ken. It’s just a little part of the whole system. So it just got to me. Read More
Number one was Marvin Jones who wrote to something like 54 zoo directors and said hey, this guy’s coming to the US, would you help him out?… Read More
Mm-hmm. Read More
Can you tell us the genesis, how did you go from working for the Zoo Society in Tokyo to coming to the United States?… Read More
Watched zoo operation from the outside, unfortunately. Just learning what to do, and what not to do, and so forth. And I read quite a bit. Read More
You had that job, and ultimately though, you left that job?… Read More
And is that when you traveled to the United States?… Read More
It was easy to, at that time, it was easy to get into Tokyo’s Zoological Society, because it was a support organization, not the operator of the zoo. Now it is, but not that time. Read More
While you were working for the Zoo Society, were you learning anything about the zoo profession, and were there any lessons there that you took away from this job?… Read More
Was that in your mind?… Read More
I wanted to, yes. Although it didn’t work that way, because right after graduation, went to Tokyo, and contracted tuberculosis. So ended up for two years in a sanatorium in the outskirts of Tokyo, and by the time I finally got out, having tuberculosis is almost like an ex-con in… Read More
How did you get the job with the Zoo Society?… Read More
Generalized large collection, from herbs, to birds, to mammals, all the basic crowd-pleasers were there. Elephants, great apes, large cats, bears. So, it was almost heavenly. Read More
Did you think of this internship as a next step to getting into a paying job at the zoo?… Read More
And so you just applied for this, and they said okay?… Read More
Okay, come on up. Because it’s an unpaid position. We’ll furnish a room, probably because I knew the director by correspondence for so many years. Read More
What kind of zoo did you find when you got there?… Read More
How did you get it?… Read More
Where did you go?… Read More