Kozo Hattori
Rohan: Hi Kozo! Thanks so much for agreeing to this interview. I’d like to get started by asking about your heritage. Now I know part of your lineage is Japanese American and the other side goes back to Hawaii. Can you tell us exactly how all that worked. When did your family arrive in the states, and is your Hawaiian side Japanese as well or native Hawaiian?
Kozo: Thanks for having me, Rohan. As far as my heritage goes, my paternal grandmother was born in California, so I’m what they call a Yonsei—fourth generation Japanese American. My mother is also of Japanese descent from Kauai, one of the Hawaiian Islands. After my father, a US Army pilot, went missing in action in Vietnam when I was three years old, my mother remarried a former classmate from Hawaii. Every summer and winter break, my parents sent my brother and me to Hawaii to stay with my step-father’s step-father who was Hawaiian. Since my step-father was physically abusive, I considered my Hawaiian Grandfather my father figure.
Beautiful Hawaii
Rohan: I see. Even though I’ve yet to go there, I find the whole Hawaiian thing very cool and highly romantic! A quick internet search using your name came up with Kozo Sushi in Honolulu. Have you ever gone there? Do you eat, like or make sushi yourself?
Kozo: Yep, I used to wear the Kozo Sushi t-shirt. I love sushi. My favorite is Sushi Nozawa in Los Angeles. We call Nozawa-san the Sushi Nazi because he is like the Soup Nazi in Seinfeld. He stands there with his knife and yells at customers, “No Soy Sauce on Unagi!” It’s the best sushi I’ve ever had though. I get a lot of motivation for blogging, creating, and living from Jiro Dreams of Sushi, so I would love to eat at his restaurant one day.
NO SUSHI FOR YOU!
Rohan: Haha, that’s amazing about the shirt! Oh wow, Jiro Dreams of Sushi has just gone on my must watch list. Where did you do most of your growing up? And can you share a favourite childhood memory?
Kozo: Northern California and Hawaii. My favorite childhood memory besides Star Wars would have to be octopus fishing with my Hawaiian Grandfather. He would throw my brother and me on his back and swim out to find octopus holes. When he found one, he would take us off his back and spear the octopus. Since I didn’t know how to swim, I would slowly sink to the bottom, but right when I needed a breath, my grandfather’s arm would appear out of the inky fray and lift me to the surface. I’ve never felt so excited and supported at the same time.
Rohan: Wow, sounds like a very natural and wise man! The two things that have always struck me about you are, first, your determination in learning about and practicing peace both as an individual and in your offline and online communities. And secondly, your entrepreneurial spirit; the way in less than a year (if I’ve got it right) you’ve built the popular Everyday Gurus blog, founded the Bloggers for Peace movement and have begun your Peace in Marriage coaching service! Have you always been ambitious and inspired in this way? Or is this something that has come recently into your life?
Peace in Marriage
Kozo: I’ve always been pretty productive, but something happened in the last year where I clicked into a new gear. I feel like I’ve finally found my Path in life. Blogging for peace, cultivating compassion, and working with men to bring peace to their relationships feels like what I was brought to this world to do. I often wake up in the middle of the night and have crazy insights that manifest into blog posts, videos, business plans, book outlines, and coaching programs.
I can tell something has changed because all I care about is bringing peace to my marriage, my children, my relationships, my community—my world. I don’t watch sports, television, movies, or Netflix anymore, unless it is related to my goals for peace. I’ve always been a bit OCD, but now I’m obsessed with something that really affects my life and the world I live in. And the best part of it is how much joy I get from everything I do nowadays. I’ve never been more content.
Rohan: Haha, I can relate to the OCD thing. It’s great that you’ve found such a positive focus for your intense energy! Your modesty is one of your most endearing qualities. You are always open to new ideas and willing to hear people out. I always get the feeling that you’re more interested in continuing to learn, rather than just preaching, which I think is definitely the right way to go about blogging and life in general. Where do you think you learned this quality? Was it a particular writer, a specific text or perhaps an influencial family member?
Kozo: Thanks for the compliment, Rohan. Unfortunately, I’m a recovering ego-maniac. One of my friends told me that I have the same disease as he does—The “Don’t You Know Who the F#*k I Am” disease. Martin Luther King Jr. called it the Drum Major Instinct. I had to hit rock bottom and lose almost everything I cherished in order to realize how much my ego controlled my life. Since that “awakening,” I’ve tried to keep what Zen masters call a “beginner’s mind.” It’s a lot easier now, since I have a record of crash and burns in my past.
Rohan: It is so often the way that someone has to really lose everything to start to realize what’s really important! But as you know there’s always room to grow during a crisis or breakdown. Blogging is hard work, and it has its ups and downs and even the odd trouble maker can surface! What do you find is your biggest challenge in the blogging world, and what techniques have you developed to cope with or manage the issue/s?
The boys
Kozo: I’ve made so many incredible friends in the blogosphere. I love my blogging best friends, but it got to the point where it took me over 2 hours to read and comment on my blogging friends’ blogs every morning. I was compromising my sleep time and family time in order to juggle blogging, writing, and commenting. That is why I took the month of July off. I took my sons out of their summer programs and devoted the month to my family, my business, and my research. I highly recommend taking a blogging break every once in a while. I remember one weekend yelling at my wife and kids to stop bothering me because I had so many posts to read and comment on. Blogging can become your life which is wonderful and challenging at the same time.
Rohan: Once again I can totally relate! I find it so important to find balance and not let my work compromise the way I treat myself or those important to me. If there was one location on the planet that you could travel to, all expenses paid, with the goal of increasing your level of peace, contentment and wisdom, where would you go?
Kozo: I would go to Dharamsala in India and hang out with exiled Tibetans. Then I would go into Tibet and try to spread vibrations of peace to the people in control. On the way home, I would stop off in Ko Samui, Thailand to do a cleansing fast on the pristine beaches with my wife.
Stunning Ko Samui
Rohan: Sounds like a very cool and enlightening trip! Thailand in particular, I’ve always had a fascination with South East Asia. What do you think has been the single most important book, or text you have read? Specifically one that put you on the path to seeking and cultivating both inner and outer peace?
Kozo: Great question, especially making me choose one. I have to qualify by saying that every text is sacred to me. Everything I read–including blog posts like yours–and watch are like breadcrumbs left by God to guide me home. If I had to choose one text, I will go with Neale Donald Walsch’s Conversations with God series. The God in this text makes sense to me. I love when God says, “Jesus was my son, but so was Buddha, Muhammad, Krishna, and you.” [not an exact quote]
Rohan: I’ve heard of the series through a number of sources. Sounds like it’s time for me to read it for myself! What’s your favorite Japanese movie?
Kozo: Easy, Seven Samurai. Actually, anything by Kurosawa with Toshiro Mifune. Hara Kiri with Nakadai comes a close second. The Barenaked Ladies’ lyrics, “Like Kurasawa I make mad films/Okay, I don’t make films/But if I did they’d have a Samurai” pretty much sums up my love for samurai flicks.
Rohan: I too love Kurosawa’s films, particularly Seven Samurai and Roshomon! What’s next for you? How do you see your blog and peace work developing over the second half of 2013?
Kozo: Good question?? I’m starting to realize that creating peace and cultivating compassion is a life-long pursuit. I’m just going to keep doing my daily practice with no attachment to outcomes. I know if I keep the peace in my mind, my marriage, and my home, then I am contributing to world peace. I am grateful for everyone who participates in Bloggers for Peace, so I will continue to support them in any way I can. I originally started Bloggers for Peace as a year-long challenge, but I can envision blogging for peace for the rest of my life.
Rohan: Yeah absolutely, it’s not something you can just do on weekends, it really becomes part of your life. Well thanks so much for taking the time to have a chat! It was great getting to know you better Kozo. I wish you all the best with your work into the future, and am proud to be part of Bloggers For Peace 
Kozo: Thanks, Rohan. I am honoured to be interviewed by you. You are an inspiration in so many ways from e-book publishing and video production to sexual kung fu and living a joyful life. I am grateful to call you a friend. {{{Hugs}}} Kozo
p.s.
Your questions were amazing. You seem to know parts of me that I was not aware of. You could easily have a new profession as the Irish/Australian Oprah. 
Kozo’s Links:
- Bloggers for Peace
- Peace in Marriage
