Working tirelessly after the war (Japanese)

My father’s business in America (Japanese) School life in Japan (Japanese) Identity (Japanese) The horror of Hiroshima after the atomic bombing (Japanese) Feelings upon listening to the imperial rescript (Japanese) Returning to America after the war (Japanese) Enlisting in the U.S. Army (Japanese) Working tirelessly after the war (Japanese) What I wanted to pass down to my children (Japanese) Father owned a café in Minot, North Dakota Japanese in Minot Didn’t speak Japanese until moving to Japan Being enlisted into the Japanese Army Wasn’t told he was being trained for kamikaze bombing Experiences in Hiroshima after the A-bomb Reaction to the Emperor’s surrender Worked for the occupation force in Japan after the war Fitting back into American life Speaking about his wife Comparing basic training of US and Japanese Armies Helping youth in the community

Transcripts available in the following languages:

(Japanese) After the war, when I started working for the Allied Occupation forces, my English was just terrible. I completely forgot it all. But after interacting—after talking with everyone, like the American G.I.s—I picked it back up fairly quickly. This word, that word… Honestly, looking back, I should’ve been studying harder at that time, but I was just frantically trying to [know enough to] get by. So when I was interpreting in Yokohama, I just said blah-blah-blah and got through it, and even after I entered the U.S. Army, you know… Even my education in Japan, I graduated junior high but never attended college. Now after moving to the states, I didn’t have a chance to attend an American college either, since I started working right away after the war. So I kind of regret leaving my education halfway, unfinished. Then again, I was able to raise my kids, and all of them made it all the way to college, so I was very happy about that.

Date: June 17, 2008
Location: California, US
Interviewer: Yoko Nishimura
Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum

education language Post-World War II