American Sutra: A Story of Faith and Freedom in the Second World War

by Duncan Ryuken Williams

Overview

Winner of the Grawemeyer Award in Religion
A Los Angeles Times Bestseller

“Raises timely and important questions about what religious freedom in America truly means.”
—Ruth Ozeki

“A must-read for anyone interested in the implacable quest for civil liberties, social and racial justice, religious freedom, and American belonging.”
—George Takei

On December 7, 1941, as the bombs fell on Pearl Harbor, the first person detained was the leader of the Nishi Hongwanji Buddhist sect in Hawai‘i. Nearly all Japanese Americans were subject to accusations of disloyalty, but Buddhists aroused particular suspicion. From the White House to the local town council, many believed that Buddhism was incompatible with American values. Intelligence agencies targeted the Buddhist community, and Buddhist priests were deemed a threat to national security.

In this pathbreaking account, based on personal accounts and extensive research in untapped archives, Duncan Ryūken Williams reveals how, even as they were stripped of their homes and imprisoned in camps, Japanese American Buddhists launched one of the most inspiring defenses of religious freedom in our nation’s history, insisting that they could be both Buddhist and American.

“A searingly instructive story…from which all Americans might learn.”
—Smithsonian

“Williams’ moving account shows how Japanese Americans transformed Buddhism into an American religion, and, through that struggle, changed the United States for the better.”
—Viet Thanh Nguyen, author of The Sympathizer

“Reading this book, one cannot help but think of the current racial and religious tensions that have gripped this nation—and shudder.”
—Reza Aslan, author of Zealot

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780674244856
Publisher:	Harvard University Press
Publication date:	02/04/2020
Pages:	400
Sales rank:	971,165
Product dimensions:	5.70(w) x 8.80(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

An ordained Buddhist priest in the Soto Zen tradition, Duncan Ryūken Williams has spent years piecing together the story of the Japanese American community during World War II. A renowned scholar of Buddhism, he has taught at the University of California, Berkeley, University of California, Irvine, and Trinity College, and is now the Director of the Shinso Ito Center for Japanese Religions and Culture at the University of Southern California. He has published five other books, including The Other Side of Zen.

Table of Contents

Prologue: Thus Have I Heard: An American Sutra 1

Buried Texts, Buried Memories 10

1 America: A Nation of Religious Freedom? 15

December 7, 1941 16

American Buddhism: Migrations to Freedom 22

Buddhism as a National Security Threat 27

Surveilling Buddhism 32

Compiling Registries 35

2 Martial Law 39

Buddhist Life under Martial Law 40

Camps in the Land of Aloha 47

3 Japanese America under Siege 55

War Hysteria 57

Tightening the Noose 63

Executive Order 9066 68

The Forced "Relocation" 77

4 Camp Dharma 85

The Dharma in the High-Security Camps 87

5 Sangha behind Barbed Wire 97

Horse Stable Buddhism 99

"Barrack Churches" in Camp 112

6 Reinventing American Buddhism 122

Adapting Buddhism 123

Sect and Trans-Sect 130

Interfaith Cooperation 135

Rooting the Sangha 144

7 Onward Buddhist Soldiers 149

Richard Sakakida, American Spy 151

The Military Intelligence Service 161

Draftees and Volunteers 168

The 100th Battalion 175

The 442nd Regimental Combat Team 180

8 Loyalty and the Draft 183

The Loyalty Questionnaire 184

Tule Lake Segregation Center 186

Leave Clearance and the Draft 196

9 Combat in Europe 200

Dog Tags 201

Chaplains 208

Fallen Soldiers 216

10 The Resettlement 227

Return to a Hostile West Coast 229

Temples as Homes 234

Resettling in Hawaii and Japan 243

Buddhism in America's Heartland 248

Epilogue: The Stones Speak: An American Sutra 254

Acknowledgments 261

Notes 263

Index 373

Editorial Reviews

American Sutra tells the story of how Japanese American Buddhist families like mine survived the wartime incarceration. Their loyalty was questioned, their freedom taken away, but their spirit could never be broken. A must-read for anyone interested in the implacable quest for civil liberties, social and racial justice, religious freedom, and American belonging.

George Takei

By recounting the struggle of those interned to maintain their faith and traditions in the face of an unforgivable assault on both, American Sutra tells a larger tale of how America’s storied commitment to religious freedom so often clashes with its history of white, Christian exceptionalism. Reading this book, one cannot help but think of the current racial and religious tensions that have gripped this nation—and shudder.

Reza Aslan

A compelling and compassionate inclusion of Japanese American Buddhists in the ‘story of America.’…A rich collection of personal trials and triumphs and a model of compassion for its subject.

H-Net Reviews - Robert G. Kane

A carefully researched and artfully told account of the importance of Buddhism to the Japanese American wartime experience…Williams’ book is a landmark and essential reading.

Justin B. Stein in Japan

Duncan Williams’s book is deep, detailed, and timely, especially at a time when the meaning of ‘citizenship’ in America is still unsettled.

Gary Snyder

American Sutra movingly and insightfully tells the long-buried true history of the ordeals suffered and triumphs achieved by Japanese American Buddhist individuals unjustly dispossessed and interned during WWII who drew on their Buddhist faith to remain loyal to the nation. I cannot recommend this compelling work highly enough for anyone who faces clearly the present-day conflicts of identities and yet aspires to a twenty-first-century vision of America’s still-possible promise for the world.

Robert A. F. Thurman

Detailed and thoughtful narratives that weave together federal policy and its real-world impact on Japanese American Buddhists and Christians, illuminating the intricate threads that tie Whiteness, Christianity, and American national identity together…Any discussion of race and White supremacy in the United States that does not address religion and Christian supremacy is inherently incomplete, and Williams’ American Sutra does a beautiful job of presenting the two together in ways that both resonate and inform.

Anxious Bench - Khyati Joshi

Williams delivers a pioneering reinterpretation and retelling of the internment through the lens of religion… A pleasure to read.

Choice

There’s much to praise about this book, but one thing that I find especially powerful is Williams’ impressive archival work—in particular, the research that indicates how much the U.S. government saw Buddhism as a national security threat, even in the years leading up to Pearl Harbor, and how differently Japanese American Buddhists were treated compared to their Christian counterparts.

Anxious Bench

A pioneering work on the history of Japanese Americans during WWII—an instant classic.

Tetsuden Kashima

Williams’s granular story of Japanese American Buddhists decenters the discourses of American Buddhism that have been historically erased, or that have denigrated the experiences of Asian Americans in favor of valorizing white converts. Furthermore, the book effectively expands the contours of religious diversity in the West—demonstrating the unique ways that war shaped religious practice—and adds a fascinating layer to the entangled histories of race and incarceration in the region.

New Mexico Historical Review - Jean-Paul R. Contreras deGuzman

Explores for the first time the significance of religion, particularly Buddhism, among Japanese-Americans incarcerated at Heart Mountain and the nine other camps overseen by the War Relocation Authority…A searingly instructive story about America from which all Americans might learn.

Smithsonian - Peter Manseau

In his revealing new history of Japanese American internment, Williams foregrounds the Buddhist dimension of the Japanese American experience. His moving account shows how Japanese Americans transformed Buddhism into an American religion, and, through that struggle, changed the United States for the better.

Viet Thanh Nguyen

Williams’ account of Japanese American Buddhists in internment—tales of suffering borne with dignity, and thereby transformed into great compassion—is the fruit of painstaking labor to unearth the buried stories and lives upon which American Sutra has been inscribed.

Buddhadharma - Mark Unno

Sheds light on an under-researched and under-publicized portion of the story of the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II…Highly recommended reading for all people, especially people interested in interfaith experiences, United States history, specifically the World War II internment, or learning more about Buddhism.

Anglican and Episcopal History - Kathryn Nishibaya

Magisterial and engaging…Provid[es] a comprehensive overview of the wartime experience of Japanese American Buddhists—a majority in the camps, U.S. military service, and the community as a whole. He shows how racism and religious intolerance fed on and intensified each other, long before the war.

International Examiner - Vince Schleitwiler

American Sutra is a critically important, carefully researched, and deeply moving work of scholarship and storytelling that brings to light—from a dark and shameful period in our nation’s past—a forgotten part of our religious and cultural history. This book raises timely and important questions about what religious freedom in America truly means.

Ruth Ozeki

A carefully researched and artfully told account of the importance of Buddhism to the Japanese American wartime experience...Williams' book is a landmark and essential reading.--Justin B. Stein "Journal of Religion in Japan" (11/14/2022 12:00:00 AM)

Williams's granular story of Japanese American Buddhists decenters the discourses of American Buddhism that have been historically erased, or that have denigrated the experiences of Asian Americans in favor of valorizing white converts. Furthermore, the book effectively expands the contours of religious diversity in the West--demonstrating the unique ways that war shaped religious practice--and adds a fascinating layer to the entangled histories of race and incarceration in the region.--Jean-Paul R. Contreras deGuzman "New Mexico Historical Review" (10/1/2021 12:00:00 AM)

A compelling and compassionate inclusion of Japanese American Buddhists in the 'story of America.'...A rich collection of personal trials and triumphs and a model of compassion for its subject.--Robert G. Kane "H-Net Reviews" (10/1/2020 12:00:00 AM)

Detailed and thoughtful narratives that weave together federal policy and its real-world impact on Japanese American Buddhists and Christians, illuminating the intricate threads that tie Whiteness, Christianity, and American national identity together...Any discussion of race and White supremacy in the United States that does not address religion and Christian supremacy is inherently incomplete, and Williams' American Sutra does a beautiful job of presenting the two together in ways that both resonate and inform.--Khyati Joshi "Anxious Bench" (5/28/2020 12:00:00 AM)

Explores for the first time the significance of religion, particularly Buddhism, among Japanese-Americans incarcerated at Heart Mountain and the nine other camps overseen by the War Relocation Authority...A searingly instructive story about America from which all Americans might learn.--Peter Manseau "Smithsonian" (2/15/2019 12:00:00 AM)

Magisterial and engaging...Provid[es] a comprehensive overview of the wartime experience of Japanese American Buddhists--a majority in the camps, U.S. military service, and the community as a whole. He shows how racism and religious intolerance fed on and intensified each other, long before the war.--Vince Schleitwiler "International Examiner" (7/10/2019 12:00:00 AM)

Sheds light on an under-researched and under-publicized portion of the story of the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II...Highly recommended reading for all people, especially people interested in interfaith experiences, United States history, specifically the World War II internment, or learning more about Buddhism.--Kathryn Nishibaya "Anglican and Episcopal History" (9/1/2020 12:00:00 AM)

There's much to praise about this book, but one thing that I find especially powerful is Williams' impressive archival work--in particular, the research that indicates how much the U.S. government saw Buddhism as a national security threat, even in the years leading up to Pearl Harbor, and how differently Japanese American Buddhists were treated compared to their Christian counterparts.-- "Anxious Bench" (12/14/2019 12:00:00 AM)

Williams delivers a pioneering reinterpretation and retelling of the internment through the lens of religion... A pleasure to read.-- "Choice" (7/1/2019 12:00:00 AM)

Williams' account of Japanese American Buddhists in internment--tales of suffering borne with dignity, and thereby transformed into great compassion--is the fruit of painstaking labor to unearth the buried stories and lives upon which American Sutra has been inscribed.--Mark Unno "Buddhadharma" (6/1/2019 12:00:00 AM)

American Sutra is a critically important, carefully researched, and deeply moving work of scholarship and storytelling that brings to light--from a dark and shameful period in our nation's past--a forgotten part of our religious and cultural history. This book raises timely and important questions about what religious freedom in America truly means.--Ruth Ozeki, author of A Tale for the Time Being

American Sutra movingly and insightfully tells the long-buried true history of the ordeals suffered and triumphs achieved by Japanese American Buddhist individuals unjustly dispossessed and interned during WWII who drew on their Buddhist faith to remain loyal to the nation. I cannot recommend this compelling work highly enough for anyone who faces clearly the present-day conflicts of identities and yet aspires to a twenty-first-century vision of America's still-possible promise for the world.--Robert A. F. Thurman, Columbia University

American Sutra tells the story of how Japanese American Buddhist families like mine survived the wartime incarceration. Their loyalty was questioned, their freedom taken away, but their spirit could never be broken. A must-read for anyone interested in the implacable quest for civil liberties, social and racial justice, religious freedom, and American belonging.--George Takei, actor, director, and activist

A pioneering work on the history of Japanese Americans during WWII--an instant classic.--Tetsuden Kashima, author of Judgment without Trial

By recounting the struggle of those interned to maintain their faith and traditions in the face of an unforgivable assault on both, American Sutra tells a larger tale of how America's storied commitment to religious freedom so often clashes with its history of white, Christian exceptionalism. Reading this book, one cannot help but think of the current racial and religious tensions that have gripped this nation--and shudder.--Reza Aslan, author of Zealot and God: A Human History

Duncan Williams's book is deep, detailed, and timely, especially at a time when the meaning of 'citizenship' in America is still unsettled.--Gary Snyder, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Turtle Island

In his revealing new history of Japanese American internment, Williams foregrounds the Buddhist dimension of the Japanese American experience. His moving account shows how Japanese Americans transformed Buddhism into an American religion, and, through that struggle, changed the United States for the better.--Viet Thanh Nguyen, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Sympathizer

From the Publisher

A carefully researched and artfully told account of the importance of Buddhism to the Japanese American wartime experience…Williams’ book is a landmark and essential reading.

Journal of Religion in Japan - Justin B. Stein