The Boy Who Defied His Karma

On a freighter headed for Japan in
November 1943, a shivering boy
stood on deck with his father s
arms around him. Wrenched
from his home in Bangkok by
the Japanese military, the boy
wondered what fate awaited him.
Bunji, his father said, I doubt
your life in Japan will be easy for
you. But do whatever you must in
order to live fully. Take risks and
live. Make your own karma.
A week later, with his father s
execution for treason for aiding the British in Burma, Bunji became
an orphan. Put into a Tokyo
orphanage, he battles hunger,
cold, and loneliness. Despite his
misery, he wants to go to school.
Remembering his father s last
words to him, at age 12 Bunji
runs away from the orphanage
only to become a starving street
urchin in Kobe. Then, thanks
to his resourcefulness and the
kindness of many, he goes on to
live a life full of adventures and
accomplishments in Asia, Europe,
and the Hawaiian islands.