Entrevistas

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

Kakita,Howard

(n. 1938) Nipo-americano. Sobrevivente da bomba atômica de Hiroshima

The moment he realized he identified as an American

I knew I was an American when I guess I was in 10th grade. My uncle who lives in Japan, he's my father’s younger brother, he’s number three. And he was given away as an adopted boy to another family because they had no heirs in that particular family. So my uncle came to our house in [the] United States at that time and he has no heirs. They’renot able to have any children. So he asked me to be adopted by him to take over his business when I grow up. And he has a very successful business in Hiroshima. And I told him, “No, there’s no way I could do that. I’ve got football practice next week.” I guess that's the point I realized, Hey I’m a Yankee, I’m an American.

identidade Nipo-americanos Estados Unidos da América

Data: September 3, 2019

Localização Geográfica: California, US

Entrevistado: Masako Miki

País: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum

Entrevistados

Howard Kakita nasceu em 1938 em East Los Angeles, Califórnia. Sua família o levou para o Japão em 1940. Seus pais e o irmão mais novo voltaram para os Estados Unidos em 1940 para cuidar dos negócios da família, mas Howard e um irmão mais velho, Kenny, ficaram no Japão.

Quando a guerra eclodiu, sua família nos EUA foi encarcerada em Poston, AZ. Em 6 de agosto de 1945, a bomba atômica foi lançada em Hiroshima. Howard estava a 1,3km do hipocentro e sobreviveu. Ele e Kenny voltaram para os EUA e reuniram-se com sua família em 1948.

Howard seguiu carreira em Engenharia da Computação. Após sua aposentadoria, ingressou na American Society Hiroshima-Nagasaki Survivors Bomb Atomic (ASA) e tem compartilhado ativamente sua experiência com a bomba atômica. (Setembro de 2019)