What I wanted to pass down to my children (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) Since they were young, I counted on my wife to raise our children. There would be times that I couldn’t help but be away [from home] due to work. [Working] from early morning to late at night—it was difficult to find a chance to spend some quality time with my kids and talk with them. I did try my best to take vacations to go on trips together as a family, but things like lecturing life lessons to my kids… I don’t recall telling my kids anything of the sort. There were discussions between my wife and me about it—about how we should be raising the kids and such. But I don’t think we did very often. In my heart, I feel that I wanted to tell my kids to have awareness that they are Japanese. It’s not something like “you have to do this or that because you’re Japanese,” but more like having a Japanese consciousness, that sort of thing. I think I was able to pass that on to my children, at least to some degree.

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

family identity