This is the memoir of a Japanese immigrant Issei (first generation) father and an American born Nisei (second generation) mother raising Sansei (third generation) American children. Married by arrangement in California during the Depression, the couple has four children. During World War II, the family is abruptly uprooted from their home by the US government and imprisoned in a concentration camp, in Manzanar, California, for three years.After release from camp, the family relocates to a small rural Maryland town, where opportunity awaits them to start life anew after Manzanar. Although no longer confined in a camp encircled by barbed wire fences and watchtowers manned by soldiers, the family faces months of struggles and hardships.After eleven months of tolerating discrimination and quasi-acceptance as the first Asian residents in Berlin, MD, the family moves to New Jersey where life improves, with regular employment for the parents and an accepting and supportive village for the family.Eventually returning to the West Coast, the parents face more adversities. However, they persevere in spirit and strength as they instill in their American-born children the importance of honesty, humility and respect while maintaining their Japanese culture and customs.
