Iwao Takamoto's father moved from Hiroshima to the United States for his health. He only went back to Japan once, and that was to marry his wife. Iwao Takamoto was born on April 19 1925 in Los Angeles, California. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Iwao Takamoto's family, like many Japanese-Americans, had to move to an internment camp. They spent the rest of World War II in the Manzanar internment camp. While he was there, Iwao Takamoto received basic illustration training from other people in the camp.