Interviews
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.
Date: September 3, 2019
Location: California, US
Interviewer: Masako Miki
Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum
Explore More Videos
Prom during the war
(b.1926) Democratic politician and three-term Governor of Hawai'i
Influence of veterans
(b.1926) Democratic politician and three-term Governor of Hawai'i
Life in camp as teenager
(1926 - 2012) Scholar and professor of anthropology. Leader in the establishment of ethnic studies as an academic discipline
Being ordered to keep a diary that was later confiscated, ostensibly by the FBI
Hawaiian Nisei who served in World War II with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team.
Bombing of Pearl Harbor
An expert researcher and scholar on Japanese immigrant clothing.
Helping soldiers
An expert researcher and scholar on Japanese immigrant clothing.
Brother leaves for war, survival
An expert researcher and scholar on Japanese immigrant clothing.
Didn't have rights that whites had
(1922–2014) Political and civil rights activist.
Californians didn't know about evacuation
(1922–2014) Political and civil rights activist.
The day Pearl Harbor was bombed
(1922–2014) Political and civil rights activist.
Father as prisoner of war in hospital
(1922–2014) Political and civil rights activist.
Patriotism versus loyalty
(1922–2014) Political and civil rights activist.