<Begin Segment 23>

RP: Oh, we were talking about your brother's experiences in Japan.

TH: Oh, yes. Of course, it wasn't a bed of roses for him, either. A lot of the Japanese Americans who were caught in Japan during that time were drafted and did serve in the army. So he felt very, very lucky that he was not. But he did experience a lot of hunger, because food was getting very, very short, and he knew that -- Japan was losing the war, and he knew that they were doomed. So I don't know, exactly how he felt about the bomb dropping, but it did end the war. I mean, it was gonna end anyway, pretty soon, because they were starving.

RP: What was his adjustment to the U.S. like coming back from Japan?

TH: When he came back from Japan, of course, he was a guy who never worked in the fields with his hands. And so he knew this was not his future, and my father quickly learned that, too. And so my father told him to go to Chicago, go to university there, follow up, or get a job. Anyway, so Nobu did go to Chicago in 1947, '46. End of '46. Anyway, he was able to find a job there, and came back to California about in 1951 or '2.

RP: Did he stay, did he settle in the Redwood City area, or was he somewhere else?

TH: Yes, he got a job at Lockheed. He was an engineer, a chemical engineer. So he had something to do, some work with the rockets. So he had an interesting life.

RP: How did you and the rest of your brothers and sisters relate to him? Was it, was there a little bit of a distance?

TH: No, I don't think so. Of course, he didn't fit into our family lifestyle, because we were flower growers working with our hands, and he worked with his brains. And so that was about it. But to this day, all five of us are very, very close to each other. Fortunately, we live close, so I feel a real sense of support from them.

<End Segment 23> - Copyright © 2010 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.