Born during the celebration of Lunar New Year, George Kenichi Kayano's birth was marked by the sounds of firecrackers outside of his family's house. On the inside of the house, his parents spoke only Japanese--when his parents visited his teachers, they asked neighborhood children to interpret for them. In the fall of 1938 Kayano applied to enter the University of California, Berkeley.
Around the same time, Bishop Fukuda, a minister at his church, convinced Kayano to accompany him to Japan before attending college. The bishop was going to visit sick and wounded soldiers in Japan and China. Upon their arrival they met the Minister of Education, General Sadao Araki, who greeted the foreign-born Japanese with a speech about where their allegiance should lie:

> You young people, being in America during these critical times should be aware that if anything happens between the United States and Japan, we in Japan could not do anything for you. The Japanese government considers you people to be expendable. Therefore, never expect any help from us.... Therefore, if and when the war occurs, we want you people to show the United States what a true Japanese of Yamato race is made of. Show them that you love the United States. Show them that the United States is the only country that you would give your life to. Do not do anything underhanded. Never be a traitor or a coward. Serve the United States to the best of your ability. Forget Japan. We can take care of ourselves. You fight for the United States. [Autobiography]

After their visit with the general, the two visited Army and Navy hospitals in Japan and then went to Korea. They visited Seoul, Korea, and then made their way south to Mukden and Harbin in China. They traveled by train and sat above the freight as they visited Tientsin, Peking, and Nanking. From Nanking Kayano went to board the M.S. Chichibu in Shanghai which took him back to the United States via Japan. It was that ship's last voyage to the United States.
Upon his return, Kayano entered UC Berkeley for a short stint, but was so restless he took a leave of absence from the university to work. On October 17, 1941, he received a notice appear at the National Guard Armory for his physical.
After being accepted into the Army, he was sent to the Camp Roberts Field Artillery training unit. On the weekend of December 6th, he did not leave the base and heard of the attack on Pearl Harbor while he washed a pot on kitchen patrol. The next day all Japanese-American soldiers had their guns seized but soon had them returned--with less ammunition.
He moved south for assignments in San Luis Obispo, Calif., and then San Diego, but when President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, all Japanese-American soldiers were moved off the coastal areas. When Kayano arrived in San Antonio with a train car of other Nisei soldiers, military police encircled his train. The police thought Kayano and the other soldiers were prisoners of war and threw them into a fort stockade. The mistake was soon cleared, and the military police moved them to the fort's main area. After two months, Kayano received orders to report to Camp Savage, Minn., where he joined the Military Intelligence Service Language School (MISLS) and studied Japanese for six months. Before leaving the continental United States, he visited Topaz Detention Camp where his parents had been interned. He departed from his hometown of San Francisco, Calif., on February 11, 1943, and headed straight for Indooroopilly, Australia--headquarters for the Allied Translator Interpreter Section (ATIS). First he worked as a language checker for translations, and later was sent to Port Moresby, New Guinea. He continued to move to various locations in the Southwest Pacific campaign area, including Sydney, Brisbane, Dumpu, and the Philippines.
After the war ended, Kayano stayed in Manila and had to work day and night to prepare for the Japan's surrender. Working with Gen. Charles Willoughby and Col. Sidney Mashbir, he prepared for the arrival of Lt. Gen. Kawabe, Vice Minister of War and representative of the Emperor of Japan.
As the Occupation got under way, Kayano flew into Yokohama and was assigned to the newspaper section of ATIS. He searched for any unusual news items that appeared in the papers, then translated them into English. He also worked on the repatriation program, interrogating Japanese as they returned from overseas POW camps until his service ended. Although ATIS requested that he return for more duty, Kayano figured that six years was enough and returned to the United States.
He completed his Associates of Art degree and then entered the U.S. Postal Service where he worked for 30 years.