Oral history interview with Fumiko Imai, 2012 June 21.

Fumiko Imai was born Brazil in 1930, but her family returned to Japan after her father suddenly died of an illness that was spreading in the community. She reminisces on her childhood in Hiroshima, including how her mother adapted to living in Japan again. She talks about her time in school during the war and remembers that she didn't feel any discrimination despite having been born in Brazil. She was 15 years old when the bomb was dropped and describes what she experienced on that day. She explains how, in the aftermath, the cooking skills her mother learned in Brazil helped the family survive; for example, her mother was able to use corn to make cornbread. She wonders if her numerous health problems, such as thyroid and gall bladder issues, are due to the bombing; she also attends the biennial medical checkups for hibakusha. She talks about working in a credit union after the war until she met her husband, a Nisei. She discusses coming to the U.S. in 1957 with her husband and her experiences becoming a citizen in 1963.

Recorded 2012 June 21