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

When we decided to get married back in 1962, way before you were born, '62, I told my wife that I have a background, the radiation. I had radiation sickness, that basically I told her I may not live that long. But I fooled her, I'm still alive. But you know, then we discussed—is there any possibility of offspring having problems.

I talked about the three traumas I had, the A Bomb, coming back to Yokogawa. The third one was when we came back to [the] United States, that was a traumatic event. Well, fourth one happened after we got married. We had three children, two girls and one boy. The oldest one being the boy. Well at age of five, he got cancer and died. So, now, is that because of the radiation? Or something else? I always inquired of the doctor, I said, “Gee, what do you think?” He said, “No, there’s no correlation between that and the death of your son."

But, I have two wonderful daughters. One, well they’re both I think close to 50 or one’s over 50. I have four grandchildren, two of each sex. And they seem to be pretty healthy. So maybe the death of my son was a fluke and something that would have happened had I not been in the A-Bomb.


atomic bomb atomic bomb survivors cancer children hibakusha marriages radiation

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)

Marion Tsutakawa Kanemoto
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Marion Tsutakawa Kanemoto

Witnessing the atomic bombing of Hiroshima

(b. 1927) Japanese American Nisei. Family voluntarily returned to Japan during WWII.

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Shizuko Kadoguchi
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Shizuko Kadoguchi

Marrying Bob against family’s wishes

(b.1920) Japanese Canadian Nisei. Established the Ikenobo Ikebana Society of Toronto

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Masako Iino
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Masako Iino

Impressions from interviews with Issei women (Japanese)

Tsuda College President, researcher of Nikkei history

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Sakaye Shigekawa
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Sakaye Shigekawa

Never married

(1913-2013) Doctor specializing in obstetrics in Southern California

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Henry Suto
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Henry Suto

Experiences in Hiroshima after the A-bomb

(1928 - 2008) Drafted into both the Japanese Imperial Army and the U.S. Army.

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Henry Suto
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Henry Suto

The horror of Hiroshima after the atomic bombing (Japanese)

(1928 - 2008) Drafted into both the Japanese Imperial Army and the U.S. Army.

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Fred Y. Hoshiyama
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Fred Y. Hoshiyama

Marriage and Family

(1914–2015) Nisei YMCA and Japanese American community leader

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Terumi Hisamatsu Calloway
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Terumi Hisamatsu Calloway

Four sisters had international marriages (Japanese)

(b. 1937) A war bride from Yokohama

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Terumi Hisamatsu Calloway
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Terumi Hisamatsu Calloway

Disrespectful Child (Japanese)

(b. 1937) A war bride from Yokohama

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Terumi Hisamatsu Calloway
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Terumi Hisamatsu Calloway

Missing Home (Japanese)

(b. 1937) A war bride from Yokohama

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Terumi Hisamatsu Calloway
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Terumi Hisamatsu Calloway

The Kids and Japanese Language (Japanese)

(b. 1937) A war bride from Yokohama

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Terumi Hisamatsu Calloway
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Terumi Hisamatsu Calloway

Regret (Japanese)

(b. 1937) A war bride from Yokohama

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Terumi Hisamatsu Calloway
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Terumi Hisamatsu Calloway

How she met her husband (Japanese)

(b. 1937) A war bride from Yokohama

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Terumi Hisamatsu Calloway
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Terumi Hisamatsu Calloway

Public views on marriage with non-Caucasian (Japanese)

(b. 1937) A war bride from Yokohama

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Jimmy Ko Fukuhara
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Jimmy Ko Fukuhara

Meeting his wife, Eileen

(b. 1921) Nisei veteran who served in the occupation of Japan

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