Oral history interview with Atsuro Kahara, 2012 June 3.

Atsuro Kahara was born in 1930. He moved to the city of Hiroshima when he was 8 years old, and was 15 years old and working in a factory when the bomb was dropped. He describes making his way home in the aftermath; he remembers someone taking pity on him and giving him a tomato to eat. He lost his older sister and younger brother in the bombing, and his father died a month later due to radiation exposure. He talks about how his school life changed after the war ended. Atsuro Kahara talks about his mother's circumstances after her husband died due to the bombing. He describes how he was able to come to the U.S. in 1956 with the help of his relatives, and expresses his first impressions of the U.S. and his complex emotions regarding coming to the country that killed his father and siblings. He talks about how he worked for 2 years and 8 months, saving money, before returning to Japan and getting married; his wife is a sansei and was born in Fresno and was in an internment camp as a child. He describes his experiences returning to the U.S., working as a gardener, and moving around California. He has participated in the biannual check-ups for hibakusha as well as check-ups by the Hiroshima Kenjinkai. He mentions the racist remarks he heard when he first came to the U.S. after the war but says he didn't encounter much racism from his upper-class clients while working as a gardener. He talks about how he now has a positive image of the U.S. and mentions how his wife had received reparations from the government for her time in an internment camp.

Recorded 2012 June 3