Kenzo "Ken" Takahashi was the younger son of Jiro Takahashi. Despite their Japanese heritage, Ken and his brother, Hiroshi saw themselves as American. The family was aboard their fishing sampan, the Oshima Maru, when word came that the Imperial Japanese Navy had attacked Pearl Harbor. Hiroshi and Kenzo were horrified by the attack and by their father's expressions of pride and excitement at the attack.