PRISONS AND PATRIOTS: Japanese American Wartime Citizenship, Civil Disobedience, and Historical Memory By Cherstin M. Lyon (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2011, 233 pp., $30.95, paperback) “Prisons and Patriots” is Cherstin Lyon’s first book. Its publication catapults Professor Lyon, a historian at California State University, San Bernardino, into the ranks of the premier scholars of World […]
Archives for 2012
A salute to Nikkei military leaders
January 1, 2012 by Leave a Comment
NIKKEI GENERALS AND ADMIRALS: UNITED STATES MILITARY By Ansho Mas Uchima and Minoru Shinmoto (Fullerton, Calif.: Nikkei Writers Guild Division of Japanese American Living Legacy, 2010, 134 pp., $30, paperback) This is a highly accessible and celebratory compilation of Nikkei generals and admirals, both active and retired, as well as those who served in the […]
KEEPING POSTED: Mauch Yamashita, Nisei baseball legend, passes away
January 1, 2012 by 1 Comment
It was the end of a unique, remarkable sporting era for California’s colorful, historic Japanese American baseball world. A sad day, when one of its cherished, most popular diamond assets — Masato “Mauch” Yamashita — suddenly passed away Dec. 7, 2011. Mauch Yamashita, 88, died at Lodi Memorial Hospital, following a heart attack. A native […]
THE GREAT UNKNOWN AND THE UNKNOWN GREAT: A MAN OF PRINCIPLE: Robert Chino, civil rights activist, draft resister and veteran
January 1, 2012 by Leave a Comment
The New Year’s season is a special time for wrap-ups and updates. One interesting, if slightly frustrating, part of doing my Nichi Bei column is that my research does not stop with publication of a given essay. Instead, I continue to discover more information about the people I write about even after the pieces have […]
THE HEART OF KANJI: Look carefully inside oneself
January 1, 2012 by 1 Comment
Happy New Year, everyone! Thank you for reading my “Heart of Kanji” column this past year. Please continue to read any future columns in 2012. 内 (nai or uchi) means “inside,” which represents an entrance door to a house with a short curtain hanging on the inside. 観 (kan or miru) means “look or observe […]
THE GOCHISO GOURMET: A year of change?
January 1, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Well, the beginning of every year is always filled with change. From simply hanging up that new calendar you purchased at Borders … whoops, that’s change in itself since there is no Borders, to crowning a new NCAA national champion in football via the convoluted BCS ranking system (I guess if LSU goes undefeated, it’s […]
Connections to Clarksburg
CLARKSBURG, Calif. — Passing through acres of vineyards along the narrow country road, we are mesmerized by the serene rural landscape and miss the turn. We double back to find our way, and spy in the distance, a forlorn wooden-framed structure with mint julep painted trim that otherwise matches the silhouette of the old gakuen […]