Kazue Kawasaki was born in 1930 in Hiroshima; the war started when she was in the sixth grade. She talks about her memories of school, including being happy that English classes were discontinued during the war; however, she was told by her Kokugo teacher that they should still study English because it was important to know the language of your enemy. She was working at a firearms factory when the bomb was dropped. She talks about having a fever and blotches appear on her skin in the years that followed. She also talks about keeping a diary at the time, which she references while speaking. She describes how a relative helped her get a job as a cleaner with the occupation forces on Etajima and how she was able to get training there working on technical drawings after an officer saw some of her artwork; she met her future husband, a Nisei, while working there as well. They came to the U.S. in 1954. She was often ill after she came to the U.S. due to radiation exposure from the bomb and wondered if American doctors could help her, but she was disappointed when they couldn't do anything. She talks about the various jobs she's had while working in the U.S., including for a clothing company in Los Angeles. She expresses the opinion that it was the active efforts of Korean and Brazilian hibakusha that allowed survivors of the bombings everywhere to receive monetary assistance from the Japanese government; the U.S. government, on the other hand, has provided no assistance to hibakusha, even those who are U.S. citizens.
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