Japanese American Books

The title of this book is deceptive in that once you read the inside cover, you discover that it wsa for Americans in the 1980's and that, in many ways, times have changed significantly. If you know nothing about the Japanese culture or people, this book is a decent start. But if you really want to know about protocol and today's Japanese, you will have to look elsewhere.

Since I am going to Japan this summer, I have taken many interests to different books about the country. This one in particular was a wonderful read because it wasn't just "Hey, this is how it works in Japan." It was more of a comparrison to the Japanese lifestyle to the American lifestyle. It also has feelings and oppinions from each culture. Like someone from Japan would state that Americans talk too much but then you would have someone from America say that the Japanese listen too much.

I found the book very helpful and I recommend it to anyone who is looking into Japan, working with a Japanese company or going over to Japan.

I work at a Japanese Company and recently participated in across-cultural learning class. This book was provided as apre-requisite to the class. I was able to get more out of this book than any other book on this subject that I had previously read. The book explains how children are raised in the Japanese Environment, their belief/value system, and how that translates into their eventual adult/working life environment. I have recommended this book to both people inside my company and Companies I deal with on a daily basis. It has taken some of the "mystery" out of the Japanese Culture for me.

The book was not exactly what I thought it was going to be. It's great for anyone who is going to be doing business with the Japanese. Period. It gives you insight into how the Japanese view American bosses and coworkers and tells you behaviors and actions to avoid.

I would never say that the violation of the rights of the Japanese was at all supportable, but the author fails to take a well-rounded view of this particular camp, the local politics and politicians and a comparison of life situations of the local residents and the internees.

In this particular situation and this camp, some of the more subtle issues are either glossed over or not touched on at all.

I was offended by this book. I had hoped for a full story from all points of view.

On the "day of infamy," when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, I was 8 years old. I was born of a poor family, who lived in the sparsely populated area of southeastern Colorado, with no access to immediate world news. Thus, it was bewildering why all my 3d grade Caucasian classmates were whispering and staring at me after I had entered the classroom that day.

It wasn't long after that day, when many Japanese families relocated from the west coast to Colorado and other inland states. Their so-called voluntary relocation was followed by forced relocation (imprisonment) of those Japanese who remained on the west coast. They were sent to several camps in the interior states. Amache was a hastily built camp near the small town of Granada in the southeastern corner of Colorado.

By war's end, in 1945, the imprisonmnet of the west coast Japanese into inland territory, I had thought, was common knowledge. Yet, as I grew older, even 30 or 40 years later, I found that many Americans were ignorant of this event in American history. Now, 60 years later, there are those who would deny the shame hanging over the imprisonment of Issei and Nisei. Instead, they would call it simply "relocation for their safety." They would justify the act, pointing to the camps as safe havens away from possible physical harm that might have been committed against them by racist Americans along the coast. Furthermore, they would say that "suspicious" characters would have been prohibitied, by their incarceration, from perpetrating "possible" traitorous acts.

Finally, a man of truth and integrity, Robert Harvey, has written a well researched history and analysis of the shameful conduct displayed by a segment of the American populace during WW2. He has not relied solely on interviews and opinions. Rather, he has documented the evidence of hysteria displayed after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Unwarranted, hateful statements were made by American citizens, including well-known figures such as: General John DeWitt; Hearst newspaper columnist, Henry McLemore; national syndicated columnist, Walter Lippmann; and CA attorney general - the future Supreme Court Justice - Earl Warren.

Prominent leaders showed poor judgment and prejudice in their decisions to remove the "Japs" from western states. Pressed on by these influential people, President Roosevelt, who did not question the leaders' prejudices, signed executive order #9066, which cleared the way for mandatory evacuation of all Japanese living along the western coast.

Harvey describes in detail the evacuation process. He notes the Nisei and Issei's losses: their personal property as well as their dignity and freedom. Harvey centers his history on the camp at Amache. He describes the features of camp construction, its maintenance, the atmosphere of living quarters and surrounding habitat, and life as it existed in the camp.

Harvey maintains a balance in his assessment of America's attitude toward the Nisei and Issei. In fairness, he has cited the thoughtful actions by kinder souls. Eleanor Roosevelt publicly spoke in defense of the Nisei and Issei. Colorado Governor Ralph Carr risked his career by welcoming the Japanese to his state. Some Caucasians in CA remained faithful to Japanese friends and helped maintain some of their property in CA during their incarceration.

Harvey takes the reader through the hard times and some good times at Camp Amache. He notes the loyalty to America felt by Japanese Americans. He revives the memory of those brave and loyal Nisei who volunteered and served in the 442d - one of the most decorated units in WW2 history. "The 442d suffered the highest percentage of casualties for a team of its size."

Harvey writes about the dignity and respect eventually earned by Japanese Americans. He quotes former internees. Some have bitter memories and residual resentments. But all, once bowed and shamed by their incarceration, are now proud survivors, and proud to call themselves Americans.

Wisely and conclusively, Harvey reminds us all - Americans and all of humanity - that "Amache does not remain in our memory to open old wounds, but to stop such wounds from being repeated."

I give the book 3 stars for literary merit, 4 stars for content, and 5 stars for "heart." I urge every person of every age to read the book.

I belong to a reading group and the book we chose to read was "The Magic of Ordinary Days". The story took place near the internment camp of Amache. Because I knew only a little history of internment camps, I wanted to find out more. After searching, I came up with the "Amache" book. It was easy to read and I had a difficult time putting it down. It explained much about the various reasons for moving the Japanese (and not only because we felt threatened). Why, I wonder, is none of this in the history books? Is it because we were ashamed of what we had done to those families? It is, whether we like it or not, part of our history and should not be swept under the rug and forgotten. I learned much from the reading of this book and thank the author for his research and dedication.

We are class 5T in Holland Elementary School in Holland, MA, USA. We just finished reading The Children of Topaz for our Holocaust unit in Reading. This was our fifth literature study book of the year.

This book is about a diary kept by a 3rd grade class in a Japanese internment camp in Utah during WW2. It was about the life and times of the camp community. The 3rd graders illustrated their diary. The book showed some of those pages. There were also photographs. The book covered the span of one school year.

Some of us liked how such young children wrote such an amazing story. It was amazing how the Japanese took the relocation so well. The children drew very good pictures in the diary.

Some of us did not like The Children of Topaz because it wasn't fiction, and we like fiction. The book was also kind of boring. It didn't have very many exciting parts. It was also depressing to read. Some of us felt there could have been more writing by children and less commentary. We found the terms and names confusing.

Some of us felt uncomfortable reading this book. The people who put the Japanese in this camp were us, the American people. We should have thought before we placed innocent American people in camps because of the way they looked. The whole story was about racism. It was heartbreaking.

This is an amazing and powerful book. I used it as research for my own historical novel and found it to be not only immensely useful, but touching as well. I learned so much about the dignity of the Japanese Americans and their fight to maintain joy under the worst of circumstances. This book is a must read.

I picked up this book at a museum in Delta, Utah that contained, among other local historical displays, a reconstruction of in internment building. Most Americans are aware of what WE did to Japanese Americans after 12/7/41. There are similarities with how we look at Arab Americans after 9/11/01. There are a number of things that make the treatment of Japanese Americans more egregious such as the absence of similar segregation of German and Italian Americans. There would certainly seem to be obvious racial overtones to this although, in fairness to a supposed "other point of view", we were not so directly attacked by the Germans or Italians.

"The Children of Topaz" is a short book that arose from a diary of an elementary class at the Japanese American internment camp in Utah known as Topaz. The diary itself would barely fill a page or two. The book is comprised mostly of the Introduction, Afterward, and the supplemental information that embelishes each day's diary entries. This supplement comes in very handy. For example, there is an entry for 4/14/43 that reads, "...an old man, Mr. James H. Wakasa passed away." The author's supplement lets us know that Mr. Wakasa was shot by a camp guard and decribes suspicious circumstances. Much information was thus shared about this otherwise "insignificant" entry. There are many other such supplements all of which are longer that the diary entries they describe. There was one entry that I thought was quietly brushed aside; April 20, 1943 "Today is Hitler's birthday". Possibly just an innocent observation but I didn't think the authors gave it an unbiased evaluation. Yet that is OK for me because this book is about what the victims of this injustice went through. The "3" rating is because there wasn't anything that I would consider to be great or outstanding in this book. It is helpful but if you want a truly compelling story about the internment from a child's view, read the book "Obasan".

Well written story of a little known episode on American history - war crimes committed by the Japanese on prisoners or war. Author Marc Landas' research is well documented and the story easily read. The book reveals the unbelievable atrocities against our soldiers as well as what many would consider a "pass" to some of those who were responsible. The desire by the Allies to build a friendship with Japan led to some cover-ups and early clemency for some of the perpetrators.

The Fallen, by Marc Landas, is the story of what happened to the crew of B-29 after it was shot down over Kyushu on its way back from a mission. The only survivor, Lieutenant Watkins ended up in Tokyo, a prisoner of the dreaded Japanese secret police. The remaining crew members were either beheaded by the army, taken to a hospital where they were used as guinea pigs for medical experiments, and one took his own life rather than surrender to a mob. The bulk of the book deals with the post-war investigation into these atrocities and the trial that took place afterwards. The author also touches upon the implications of the Cold War and how these affected the investigations, trials, sentences, and ultimate commutation of sentences of many Japanese war criminals. Although this is a very touching and interesting story, it could have been told in a much better manner. First of all, there were numerous typographical errors throughout the book. The first one found is enough to send any WWII buff running, "The Pacific War officially drew to a close on September 2, 1948." However, don't let that deter you because the book is worth reading. Second of all, there are sections of the book that are tough to get through. These mostly deal with the trial. The sections pertaining to Lieutenant Watkins and his fellow airmen are an easy and interesting read. With these shortcomings in mind, I still recommend this book if for no other reason then to honor these brave men.

In the waning months of World War II, the American B-29 bomber attacks on Japanese cities grew in intensity. In this book, author Marc Landas takes the reader on a journey that started with a B-29 raid in May, 1945, and ended with consequences that no one could have ever imagined.

The pilot of one of the B-29s on that fateful raid was Marvin Watkins. Along with his crew of nine other men, they were returning to their base when they were attacked by Japanese fighters. Suffering fatal damage, Watkins ordered his crew to bail out while he stayed at the controls of the plane. One by one, the men bailed out. But as it turned out, their worst fears were just beginning, for after being captured by the Japanese Kempei Tai, they faced horrors unimaginable to most people.

The surviving eight men from Watkins' B-29, along with thirty-nine other American POWS, were either beheaded by the Japanese, or, in the case of Watkins' crew, subjected to inhumane and fatal medical experiments. On three different occasions, the beheadings occured, and on one of the occasions, the war had already ended. The men who were used for the medical experiments had seawater pumped into their veins as well as having lungs, stomachs, and livers removed. They were alive but unconscious the entire time; they ultimately died.

In November, 1945, the Americans, acting on a tip from an informant about the downing of Watkins' plane, began an investigation into the possibility of Japanese atrocities being committed against the American POWs. Over the course of the next 2+ years, the investigation turned up allegations of behheadings and medical experiments. Many Japanese were indicted and a trial began in 1948. Through the meticulous work of the American investigators and prosecutors, several Japanese officers were found guilty of murder and handed sentences ranging from death by hanging to several years of hard labor. However, due to the rising threat of the Soviet Union and China, the Americans realized that an allied Japan would help stem the flow of Communism in the region. In a move that left me as a reader dumfounded, the Americans gave all of the convicted Japanese officers clemency in the name of establishing friendly relations between the United States and Japan.

I found this to be a very eye-opening book. It is inconcievable to me how the Japanese, who were found guilty at trial, were allowed to get off scott-free, while the American POWs were murdered at the hands of these same Japanese officers. As for the book itself, the author does an extraordinary job of describing the downing of the B-29, as well as the beheadings and the other atrocities committed by the Japanese. People who think the United States was barbaric in using the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki should read this book and learn what real barbarism was.

Prof. Ishige, known for his extensive knowledge of Japanese cuisine as an expert food anthropologist, has here published his first and hopefully not only English translation of his work. Certainly it is not as detailed as others might desire, but this is not a book intended for casual readers looking for trivia but for researchers looking for a decent background in Japanese cuisine. Most valuable for my research was Ishige's outline of the historical periods of Japanese cuisine, from the earliest days to the present. Unfortunately, Prof. Ishige does not include footnotes or an index to this very helpful work, which prevents it from recieving the five stars it would have deserved.

As the previous reviewer mentioned, although this book neatly summarizes the historical development of Japanese dietary patterns and symbolism, its price is much higher than one might consider reasonable. This makes the lack of an index an especially egregious flaw; although the table of contents is reasonably informative, it doesn't provide an adequate substitute.

If you absolutely must have a single-volume reference on the subject, this would certainly conserve space on your bookshelf, but I suspect that most people would consider their money better-spent if spread across several different books that add up to the same total price.

The book is packed full of history that I have only seen in bits and pieces here and there. It is like watching the Discovery channel (fun, informative, and somewhat unbiased). Although the price is extremely high, I think it is currently the only book of it's type. A less expensive way to begin a study of the history of Japanese food is by reading "The Folk Art of Japanese Country Cooking," by Gaku Homma. Check that one out first and if the appetite is not satisfied, consider investing in this one.

A "just-about-as-accurate-as-it-gets" account of a young man who comes to Asia to fight off the post-graduation blues, discover himself, and get away from the baggage of home. Main character Cricket Collins comes over on a teaching internship, loses his job, finds a new one, gets over his culture shock and actually learns something about Japan. He picks up a nice girl, somehow remains faithful to her, then tries to sort out his life as he acclimatizes to his new world. I found this book quite accurate in its depictions of the "foreign ghetto" of English teachers in Japan, namely the nutty types that end up here as well as the types of situations that they get into. Some of Cricket's experience mirrored mine in an eerie way, none less than the fact that he ended up living in the same town that I do! The author's style is satisfying and reads well, and he renders the language of Japanese characters in the book quite comfortably for the most part - something that would be quite tricky for someone who hasn't lived for a long time in Japan to do. Trips to Korea, China, and New York highlight the book and keep it interesting. With the last chapter of the book, the author veers wildly in his intent and changes the course of the novel drastically by dealing with the Cricket's ideosyncracies quite directly - I am pretty sure I understand what he was trying to do and find it quite amazing, a rare effort in the field of literature and I admire his dedication to his vision although it may give other readers whiplash. A new second-to-last chapter set in America could have softened the blow, but I'm not really complaining. This book has probably only been read by five or six people, a real shame.

Forget Bicycle Days, forget Ransom, this is the only novel that captures what it is *really* like to live as an expatriate in Japan. I've lived in Japan for over 8 years and believe me, this is the only one that gets it right. Galef has created the archetype for the disillusioned English teacher in Japan and his name is Cricket Collins. Don't read that horrible Dave Barry Does Japan book, read this. Highly entertaining and informative. Buy one for all your friends who are thinking about living in Japan.@

I wish to enlighted interested readers to an important point: there is another book on this subject by the same name, Turning Japanese: Memoirs of a Sansei, by David Mura. Vive la difference! While Galef's attempt at the gaijin novel may be entertaining to those who don't know better, it is hardly the best book on the subject; it may not even be an okay one. Mura's book, on the other hand, is a masterpiece. No wonder. Mura is one of Japanese-America's foremost poet/authors. He wrote the book while working in Japan on a literary fellowship. It is a masterful work of creative nonfiction, relentlessly honest and achingly authentic. Couldn't put it down. And I've read so many books on the same subject that I'm beginning to think that I'M turning Japanese. I also lived there for 13 years, working in the word biz, so I know whereof I speak. Please read Mura's book. Then decide for yourself.

Marie Hara's book "Bananaheart and Other Stories" is an easy book to read. Its stories are filled with everyday characters you can encounter and funny superstitions in Hawaii. Everyone can find one story in this book that they can relate to. The two stories I enjoyed the most are Old Kimono and Bananaheart. The story Old Kimono is about a young woman who finds out what her Japanese culture means to her and how something as small and insignificant as a kimono is part of history. The reader will find themselves drawn in as they encounter people they never knew were important to history and you find yourself in admiration of simple stitching that you would have never thought twice to look at before. The story is amazing and you find yourself in awe at the end wondering why you never thought of a kimono as significant. Bananaheart (which is part of the book's title) is a story about a young couple having to tackle "silly" superstitions. You find yourself pulled in as the couple try and logically explain the problems they are having at their home. It's spine tingling and refreshing at the same time as you wonder how their problem ever got started. All the stories are page turners (especially if you can relate) and you find yourself knowing characters in the book. In all, the whole book is great and I would recommend it to anyone, especially if you live in Hawaii.

I managed to read the entire book in one day, and found it a very easy read. For my class, we covered the book Buddhaheads but there are many other short stories I enjoyed. Bananaheart allows us a glimpse of Japanese American women in Hawaii during various stages of life.

The first story portrays the arrival of the Japanese picture brides from Japan for the "coolies" in 1895. This is a known fact. That was what "Honeymoon Hotel" was about. I was a little disappointed in it, the fact that it wasn't longer because Sono and Yamamoto were together for 57 years. I would be intrigued to see the transformation of a Japanese picture bride to a local Japanese American.

Japanese workers were more unique than the Chinese because they provided their own women because chinese were more apt to marry the Hawaiians. In 1882, the Chinese exclusion act was passed. Because of lack of contract workers in America they decided to hire Japanese contract laborers, and then in 1924 the Japanese got struck with the Japanese Exclusion Act. This tells us a little about the history of Asian contract laborers in America and Hawaii.

Honeymoon Hotel was my favorite of all in the collection, because its strictly historical and strikes a chord within me that Japanese contract laborers were allowed to have picture brides and I've seen a video that states that some men disguised themselves or used their friends pictures to send to the women. So it's very similar to Honeymoon Hotel.

"Buddhaheads" explores class differences, and the life in the year 1933, when the whites reigned 'surpreme' over a house. And how poor Katie, the main character is subject to being a servant girl when her family is local. Katie is exposed to public lewdness from her boss even though he never speaks directly to her.

It is a story of how class, gender, and ethnicity interact. It speaks of patriarchy in Hawaii, that the male, Mr. Stuart is the head of the house. an interlocking of ethnicities are embodied in patriarchy as the japanese houseboys refuse to do some things and allow the women to do it. The Buddhaheads in Mr. Stuarts garden are insulting to other cultures because the heads are decapicated. It is showing Mr. Stuart is in POWER.

There is a collection of 12 short stories, and I liked all of them. This is a review of only 2 of the stories! I don't wish to give more away! It written in english, some Japanese words and of course, Pidgin - Broken English as one character in the story tells it.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is into Japanese in Hawaii, or interested in studying some pidgin.

This book is the cultural critic's equivalent of a richly textured and nuanced novel. It is full of startling juxtapositions and imaginative leaps; it can transform the familiar into the strange and wonderful; and its point of view is witty and ironic and generous. It is as valuable to me for its insight into the complex relationship between Lafcadio Hearne and Japanese folklore as it is for its explication of the intricacies of twenty-five years of contemporary Japananese/American post-post-modernism. As I read it, I looked forward with pleasure to re-reading it with deepened understanding.

When I first heard of this book, I preordered and awaited it breathlessly. When it came earlier than I expected, I was thrilled. After I opened the pages, I found myself emerged in a dry, difficult-to-follow, academic book that is full of more quotes from other books than it has original text.

I am not saying that Takayuki Tatsumi isn't knowledgeable on his subject, quite the opposite. I think perhaps he is too close to the subject to be able to write to a layman audience and it shows.

My difficulties with the book ranged from it's style to references. Perhaps it is more for the academic minded; it was definitely published via an academic press, and definitely reads like a dissertation. I believe the author is somewhere between 10 and 15 years older than myself, creating a gap in the information streams in which we were exposed to. He makes reference to far too many movies/books/relevant figures (authors, playwrights, directors), etc, that I am simply not familiar with. And while normally this is not a problem, he fails to explain to my understanding who these people and their works are. I felt in the completely dark throughout this book.

But perhaps the worse part was, it was a slow, painstaking read for the 200-odd pages of half-page text that graced the pages. It didn't help that I would have to stop again and again to consult online references to who people or their works were.

Normally, I would give this kind of book only 1 star, but it covers two subjects I am very fond of: Japan and cyberpunk. So it gets an extra star, for anyone NOT deeply interested in these subjects, I recommend to steer clear away. This is not a casual read by any stretch of the imagination.

I do not want this to be a case of one-upmanship but I cannot resist pointing out that the authors' descriptions of Toru Matsumoto on pages 12, 43, and 97 are factually incorrect.
The authors say on page 12 that Toru Matsumoto emigrated to the U.S. in the 1920s. However, it was in 1935 that Toru Matsumoto first visited the United States. Moreover, he did not emigrate to the U.S. then but just visited the country to attend the 2nd U.S.- Japaese Students Conference.
On page 43, the authors state that Toru landed in San Francisco. It is incorrect; he landed in Seattle. And it was his brother Tsuyoshi, not a friend, that arranged for him to meet Jay and Mary.
On page 97, the authors write that Toru Matsumoto was living in New York city with his American wife Emma. Emma was not an American but a Japanese citizen then.
Lastly, Toru Matsumoto was never an American citizen throughout his life. He came back to Japan in the wake of WWII and remained in Japan until his untimely death in 1979.
For further details, please consult my Between Two Worlds: Matsumoto Toru and His Age (M.A. Thesis: Zimmerman Library, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM).
Otherwise, the book is a good introduction to the subject.

This book is one of the few that actually tries to tackle the long story of struggle and assimilation by Japanese Americans into American society. It starts off with an intro by George Takei and then dives into the history of emigration, era of laborers in Calif and Hawaii, settlement by families, the concentration camp experience, and the post war assimilation. The best part of the book is the numerous pictures and quotes from books/newspapers from famous figures in Japanese American lore: Yoshiko Uchida, Daniel Inouye, Isamu Noguchi, Ellison Onizuka, etc.. For somebody looking for easy reading material (without the philosophical discussion of racism that you may find in Takaki's books), I recommend it highly.

The author tries to create the illusion that he knew my grandfather real well. In fact they only met on a few occasions. My grandfather, Henri Hekking, was a stickler for detail and was disturbed by the fact that the author "recalled" conversations between them that never occured. The "death railroad" was a very traumatic experience for alot of people and the events should be exposed, but people who glorify themselves on others heroics are bothersome to me. Overall the stories are portrayed very well but I feel they have been "over-enhanced" for better book sales.

"Last Man Out", by H. Robert Charles is a non fictional story about the author being captured in a prison camp in World War II. This book is the story about Robert Charles, who was a marine machine gunner aboard the USS Houston which was sunk by the Japanese in Sundra Strait, March 1, 1942. Robert swam nine hours until he was picked up off the coast of Java by the Japanese. He was held captured for forty three months in slave labor camps in Burma, Thailand, and Saigon. The Japanese had forced the prisoners(Americans, British, and Australians) to build a 262 mile stretch of railroad, from Burma south into Thailand, through some of the worst parts of the jungles. Through all of this torture, a doctor, Dr. Henri Hekking, saved the lives of more than 250 Americans, including the author. He saved them by the knowledge of herbs that grew wild in the jungle. Then something that will help these men survive happens.
This book is a remarkable story about the treatment that prisoners in slave labor camps received. It shows the dedication that these soldiers had for their countries. This book goes beyond what is taught in the classroom. This man, Robert Charles, was there, living the torture that any person could never imagine that could happen to them. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn what these brave men went through, to save our country from being attacked. They are the heroes that saved us.