Current of My Life Fishing: A bicultural bilingual research scientist who led a curiosity driven satisfying life under shadow of the Japan-USA relationship

I was born in Seattle, Washington, 1933 but on the day of Pearl Harbor Attack, I was living in Shenyang, Northeast China. This is the story of my life from that event to the present intertwined with the Japan-USA relationship. I was a shy introvert and floated down the river of my life fishing but caught opportunities that came along whenever needed. In this manner I obtained PhD in biochemistry, 1961 and went to Japan as a postdoctoral fellow, probably the first American to learn molecular biology in Japan. I got married to Shigeko through the Manchurian connection. I did research on self initiated projects at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the birthplace of atomic bomb. I went to Japan occasionally as a scientist and observed Japan rose from ashes to become world second largest economy but under American umbrella. I served the Biology Division in various capacities; even chaired the international symposium relevant to my research. I served the US government as a diplomat (1985- 1986) and on the taskforce for United Methodist Church to assess societal and ethical impact of genetic engineering 1989-1991. We enjoyed life surrounded by our three children, hiking and traveling. After our children had left, we also left moving to the places where I did collaborative medical research. I was given opportunities to express my potential in full because I accepted them without considering conditions. As I age, I realize that our middle class American life style could not be sustained without changing our profit driven economic system.