The Unsung Great: Stories of Extraordinary Japanese Americans

by Greg Robinson

Overview

Fascinating portraits illuminate the diversity of Japanese American experiences

From a title-winning boxer in Louisiana to a Broadway baritone in New York, Japanese Americans have long belied their popular representation as “quiet Americans.” Showcasing the lives and achievements of relatively unknown but remarkable people in Nikkei history, scholar and journalist Greg Robinson reveals the diverse experiences of Japanese Americans and explores a wealth of themes, including mixed-race families, artistic pioneers, mass confinement, civil rights activism, and queer history.

Drawn primarily from Robinson’s popular writings in the San Francisco newspaper Nichi Bei Weekly and community website Discover Nikkei, The Unsung Great offers entertaining and compelling stories that challenge one-dimensional views of Japanese Americans. This collection breaks new ground by devoting attention to Nikkei beyond the West Coast—including the vibrant communities of New York and Chicago, as well as the little-known history of Japanese Americans in the US South. Expertly researched and accessibly written, The Unsung Great brings to light a constellation of varied and incredible life stories.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780295747965
Publisher:	University of Washington Press
Publication date:	12/31/2020
Pages:	312
Sales rank:	504,146
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Greg Robinson is professor of history at l’Université du Québec à Montréal and author of several books, including After Camp: Portraits in Midcentury Japanese American Life and Politics and By Order of the President: FDR and the Internment of Japanese Americans.

Table of Contents

Introduction: An Outsider Look at Japanese Americans 3

Chapter 1 Mixed-Race Japanese Americans: Family Stories 7

Hapa Japanese America: An Overview 7

Takamine Family 10

Hirose Family IS

Ohnick Family 22

Thomson Family 30

Sono Osato and Timothy Osato 39

Chapter 2 Literature 47

How John Okada Was Born 47

First Impressions: Early Reviews of John Okada's No-No Boy 52

Sanae Kawaguchi and Mitsu Yamamoto 57

Mary Oyama Mittwer and Henry Mittwer 62

Ambrose Amadeus Uchiyamada 72

K. K. and Clarke Kawakami, Journalists (with Chris Suh) 76

Chapter 3 Wartime Confinement and Japanese Americans: Nikkei Stories 87

Japanese Americans and Pearl Harbor: Another Sort of Infamy 87

Tsuyoshi Matsumoto: Teacher and Artist 92

Toru Matsumoto: Brother and Stranger 97

Parallel Wars: Japanese American and Japanese Canadian Internment Films 102

The Unknown History of the Japanese American Committee for Democracy 110

Interracial Marriage and Wartime Japanese American Confinement 116

The Unknown History of Japanese Internment in Panama (with Maxime Minne) 119

Chapter 4 Wartime 125

Japanese Americans, Dorothy Day, and the Catholic Worker (with Matthieu Langlois) 125

Brother Theophane Walsh: A Quiet Hero (with Jonathan Van Harmelen) 130

Pearl S. Buck, Defender of the Nisei 133

First Lady of the World? Reconsidering Eleanor Roosevelt and Japanese Americans 137

Wartime Solidarity between Chinese Americans and Japanese Americans 142

Woody Guthrie 148

Forrest LaViolette and the Paradoxes of Wartime Confinement 152

Chapter 5 Political Activism and Civil Rights 157

Clifford Uyeda and Ben Kuroki: Nisei Conservatives 157

Japanese Americans and the McCarran-Walter Act 163

Loren Miller: African American Defender of Japanese Americans 169

Aiko Herzig-Yoshinaga 172

Jean Sadako King 178

Diverging Paths: Redress in the United States and Canada 181

Chapter 6 Arts and Sciences 187

Taro and Mitsu Yashima (with Valerie Matsumoto) 187

Yoichi Okamoto 192

Prewar Nisei Films and Filmmakers 197

Sueo Serisawa 200

Dr. Newton Wesley: Inventor of the Contact Lens 205

Eugenie Clark 208

Chapter 7 The Queer Heritage of Japanese Americans 213

The Archaeology of Queer Nikkei History 213

The Evolution of Community Opinion and the Rise of Homophobia 217

Japanese Americans Coming Out in the 1970s: The Community Forum 220

Pioneering Nisei Lesbians 224

Military Service and the Shift to Equal Rights 227

Marsha Aizumi's Two Spirits, One Heart 230

Chapter 8 Other Places, Other Lives 233

Japanese Americans in Mobile, Alabama 233

Japanese Americans in Upstate New York 237

Be a Good Sport about It: Nikkei Athletes in Louisiana 243

The Ito Sisters of Chicago 248

Jitsuichi Masuoka: Issei Sociologist at Fisk University 252

The Adventures of T. Scott Miyakawa 256

Epilogue. Nunc Pro Tunc and the Story behind a Phrase 267

Acknowledgments 273

Notes 275

Bibliography 279

Credits 285

Index 289

What People are Saying About This

Karen Inouye

"Almost like a detective, Robinson pieces together narratives about previously unrecognized Nikkei while simultaneously integrating these individuals within the book's larger thematic structure. The result is a rigorous, compelling study that intertwines longstanding questions with striking new concepts."

Gordon H. Chang

"An extraordinarily rich and inspiring resource. Greg Robinson's portraits go beyond biography and illustrate resilience, fortitude, and creativity under adversity."

Editorial Reviews

"Japanese Americans and non-Japanese Americans alike will benefit tremendously, as I certainly did, from Greg Robinson's inspired sleuthing and artful renderings of his findings."

Nichi Bei Weekly