Jinan: A Japanese American Story of Duty, Honor, and Family (book)

Memoir of a Kibei man whose story takes him from Los Angeles to Hiroshima and back, to " voluntary evacuation " in Colorado, and postwar business success back in Southern California.

Sadao Kajikawa (1919–2018) was the second of three boys born to Issei parents Goichi and Kinuyo Kajikawa. Having gained a modicum of success through farming in Southern California, Goichi brings the family back to Hiroshima in 1921. But after his Japanese confectionery business goes under, the family is reduced to poverty, and Goichi returns to California to support the family. Bringing over eldest son Tadashi, Goichi borrows money to buy a farm that also fails, saddling him with debt and in poor health due to drinking. Sadao goes over at age seventeen to help. Somehow the brothers build a successful market before the war, drawing on the help of kenjin. Along with Tadashi's in-laws, the family "voluntarily" evacuates to Colorado in 1942, opening a market there. Coming back to Los Angeles after the war, the brothers open a series of markets, aided by their Nisei wives. Sadao becomes wealthy through ownership of a liquor store, mobile home parks and stock market investments, allowing him to support family in the U.S. and Japan.

According to the Afterword by Sadao's daughter, Akemi Jean Giovinazzo, the book was completed just prior to his passing at age 99.

Might also like In Search of Hiroshi by Gene Oishi; A Taste for Strawberries: The Independent Journey of Nisei Farmer Manabi Hirasaki by Manabi Hirasaki with Naomi Hirahara; Sleeping on Potatoes: A Lumpy Adventure from Manzanar to the Corporate Tower by Carl Nomura