I am privileged to serve the people of Hawaii in the United States Senate. As an immigrant who grew up under difficult circumstances, I recognize that my path to the Senate was unlikely. At the same time, my experiences have shown me the incredible opportunities available in America and have fueled my desire to give back.
I owe much to the courage and determination of my mother. My early childhood was spent on my grandparents’ rice farm in Fukushima, Japan. My mother sent me to live with my grandparents because of family circumstances. My father was an alcoholic and compulsive gambler and I did not get to know him much. As a result, our family had little stability or money. At times, he would even sell my mother’s belongings to gamble away.
But instead of watching our family continue to suffer, my mother made the courageous decision to seek a better life for us. She plotted and planned in secret, and when I was nearly eight years old, we literally escaped to this place called Hawaii and this country called America. My mother, brother and I boarded the President Cleveland in Yokohama and crossed the Pacific in steerage.
