Oral history interview with Yasuko Kashihara, 2012 June 2.

Yasuko Kashihara was born in 1942 in Hiroshima. She talks about her father, who was born in Hawaii but went back to Japan for school beginning in junior high. He was drafted into the Japanese army after graduating from college, even though he had dual U.S.-Japanese citizenship, and was sent to Singapore. After contracting malaria, he was sent home to Hiroshima. Her mother was a Sansei born in Hawaii. She talks about being at home with her mother and younger brother when the bomb was dropped. They were a half-mile from ground zero and suffered injuries, and her father was with his army group, but they were unharmed. She mentions that her father didn't want to fight against the U.S. during the war, and after the war he worked as a civil engineer for the U.S. Navy in Thailand. A gentleman enters the interview and speaks to Yasuko in English about helping her get her monthly allowance for survivors. Afterwards, she talks about how she never heard anyone talk about the bomb when she was a child, and that it was better to hide that you were a hibakusha to avoid prejudice that could prevent you from ever getting married. She mentions that she arrived in the U.S. before she was 18 and received diplomas from both Japanese and American high schools. She talks about the anti-Japanese sentiments she and her family experienced after coming to the U.S. She talks about working as an accountant after graduating from junior college and about being the only Japanese person in any given situation. She also mentions meeting her friends back in Japan, who all had children while she had devoted her time to learning accounting and computer programming, and felt that she was glad she had come to the U.S. She talks about getting her BS degree in business at the age of 50.

Recorded 2012 June 2