Summary

In August 1945, the internees at Camp Tule Lake learned that the Japanese had surrendered and the war was over. Those who had renounced their citizenship, like Fumiko, were expected to be repatriated to Japan. Instead, a lawyer named Wayne Collins stepped in and argued in court that these individuals had renounced their citizenship under duress, and that they should be permitted to stay in the U.S. Collins won the case, just two days before Fumiko was scheduled to depart for Japan. The Takeis discussed where they should go next, and decided that Takekuma would go ahead to Los Angeles to determine whether or not it was safe for the family to return. Fumiko and the children joined him ten weeks later.

The family briefly lived in a hotel in skid row while Takekuma worked as a career counselor for other Japanese men...