 Born May 27, 1939, Inada is a third-generation Japanese American ("Sansei").His father, Fusaji, worked as a dentist, while his mother, Masako, helped run the family fish market in Fresno's Chinatown.In May 1942, at the age of four years, Inada and his family were interned for the duration of World War II at camps in Fresno, the Jerome War Relocation Center in Arkansas, and Granada War Relocation Center in Colorado.