His older brother, Toshimasa, later called Tom, joined their parents in America in 1917. Chikamasa embarked for the United States on December 21, 1920. At immigration, he recognized his father by his resemblance to Toshimasa. In Kanda, Wyoming, where Daisaku was a maintenance foreman for the Union Pacific Railroad, Chikamasa met his American brother, age three, and his sisters, age seven and eight.

He met Bernadette Suda in 12/1934, marrying her on 06/11/1935.

They had three children: Paul, Jr., born 04/22/1936. Jon, a second son, arrived on 07/08/1938. Vincent, named for the Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh, was born in Seattle, WA, on 10/17/1947.

Born Chickamasa Horiuchi in the Japanese village of Oishi, Yamanashi Prefecture, he began his migration to the US on 12/21/1920. He settled with his parents who lived in Kanda, WY, where his father worked for the Union Pacific Railroad. Because father and son could not both be employed by the railroad, he changed his name to "Chickamasa Kamakura," his mother's maiden name. Later, his father died of stomach cancer (which he, too, contracted but survived), and, subsequently, his mother returned to Japan. He later adopted an English first name which he recombined with his father's name, Horiuchi.