Interviews

1. Nisei Parents

2. His family Traveled to Japan in 1940

3. His Memory of August 6, 1945

4. Immediately after the bombing

5. Escape from Hiroshima

6. Other family members not as lucky

7. Returning to Hiroshima in ruins

8. His parents had little hope that he had survived the atomic bomb

9. Reuniting with parents in America

10. Adjustment to American life

11. The moment he realized he identified as an American

12. Overcoming trauma and speaking about his A-Bomb experience

13. On telling his wife he had radiation sickness and his son’s cancer

14. His views on nuclear weapons

Howard Kakita

(b. 1938) Japanese American. Hiroshima atomic bomb survivor

Other family members not as lucky

Perhaps at this point I should mention my maternal side, they lived in Furue which is, I think, approximately three miles from ground zero, and probably south of the ground zero position. And they were basically farmers. They were farming at that time.

On that particular day, my grandparents, my maternal grandparents, grandfather, grandmother, and also my youngest uncle in that family, (that would be my mother’s youngest brother), the three of them took their produce and went into the city to sell. Although I don't know [their] exact location when the bomb exploded, but they must have been extremely close. My grandmother’s body was never recovered, she just disappeared. My grandfather was severely injured and somehow made it back to Furue only to die a few days later. My uncle, he said he was—I spoke to him in the past—he said that he was thrown into the river. There were many, many rivers in Hiroshima. He was thrown into the river, which probably saved his life. But he was severely burned on both of his legs.

atomic bomb atomic bomb survivors hibakusha Hiroshima (city) Hiroshima Prefecture Japan World War II

Date: September 3, 2019

Location: California, US

Interviewer: Masako Miki

Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum

Interviewee Bio

Howard Kakita was born in 1938 in East Los Angeles, California. His family took him to Japan in 1940. His parents and younger brother came back to the United States in 1940, to take care of the family business, but Howard and an older brother, Kenny, stayed in Japan.

When the war broke out, his family in the U.S. were incarcerated in Poston, AZ. On August 6, 1945, the Atomic bomb was dropped in Hiroshima. Howard was 0.8 miles from the hypocenter and survived. He and Kenny came back to the U.S. and reunited with their family in 1948.

Howard pursued a career in computer engineering. After his retirement, he joined American Society Hiroshima-Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Survivors (ASA) and has been actively sharing his A-bomb experience. (September 2019)

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