Oral history interview with Sumie Kubota and Toshiro Kubota, 2012 June 23.

Sumie Kubota was born in Sacramento in 1931. Her mother was a Nisei also born in the same area, in Yolo County, and her father was born in Hiroshima. She talks about moving back to Japan in 1938 after her father passed away. Toshiro Kubota's parents were married in Japan and came to the U.S. around 1920. He was born in Sacramento in 1925 and his family returned to Japan in 1933. They talk about their experiences in Japanese schools, which were stricter than American schools and where corporal punishment was more common. Before the war began, Sumie's mother and siblings returned to the U.S. and ended up in internment camps during the war. She talks about being at school when the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. A teacher covered her to protect her from debris, and then she remembers running home barefoot. She was uninjured, but her grandfather had a wound on his head. Toshiro was also at school. He talks about getting burned by the blast. Sumie was able to return to the U.S. in 1948 because she was a Nisei and was helped by a Nisei army captain friend of the family, allowing her to be reunited with her mother and younger brothers. Toshiro also talks about coming to the U.S. in 1953 with the help of a family friend, and both talk about renouncing their Japanese citizenship to be able to come back to America. Toshiro talks about his experiences working in "rooming houses" in Old Sacramento. They talk about their reluctance to reveal their hibakusha status for fear of losing their access to insurance, and they speak about their experiences with hibakusha support groups.

Recorded 2012 June 23