A Place for Harvest: The Story of Kenny Higashi By Lauren R. Harris, illustrated by Felicia Hoshino (Pierre, S.D.: South Dakota Historical Society Press, 2022, 32 pp., $19.95, hard cover) Many of us are familiar with Executive Order 9066. More than 100,000 persons of Japanese ancestry on the West Coast were forced to leave their […]
Arts & Entertainment
The sound of redemption
July 21, 2022 by Leave a Comment
THE PERFECT SOUND: A Memoir in Stereo By Garrett Hongo (New York: Pantheon Books, 2022, 544 pp., $30, hard cover) The poet, Garrett Hongo, recounts his life in “The Perfect Sound,” a lengthy, detailed and beautifully written tome that follows his journey as a barefoot boy born in Hawai‘i, to his tenured faculty position at […]
A ‘vibrant,’ non-linear approach to Asian America’s histories
July 21, 2022 by Leave a Comment
ASIAN AMERICAN HISTORIES OF THE UNITED STATES By Catherine Ceniza Choy (Boston: Beacon Press, 2022, 206 pp. $26.95, hard cover) In the mid-1990s, while teaching history classes at California State University, Fullerton, I was asked to join a professor from the Education Department in designing an academic minor curriculum for the university’s new Asian American […]
Interrogating the memoir of a resister
July 21, 2022 by Leave a Comment
BEYOND THE BETRAYAL: The Memoir of a World War II Japanese American Draft Resister of Conscience By Yoshito Kuromiya, edited by Arthur A. Hansen (Louisville, Colo.: University Press of Colorado, 2022, 234 pp. $34.95 hard cover) Be sure to read the Endnotes to Yosh Kuromiya’s new posthumous memoir. They’re half the fun of reading this […]
Bio of Issei journo shines
July 21, 2022 by Leave a Comment
A REBEL’S OUTCRY: BIOGRAPHY OF ISSEI CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER SEI FUJII (1882-1954) By Kenichi Sato (Los Angeles: Little Tokyo Historical Society, 2021, 231 pp., $60, hard cover) Prior to reading this book, my knowledge about prominent Issei lawyer/journalist Sei Fujii derived from two starkly contrasting experiences. The first of these was co-authoring with Ronald Larson […]
The gift of a smile
July 21, 2022 by Leave a Comment
The Smile Shop Written and illustrated by Satoshi Kitamura (Atlanta, Ga.: Peachtree Publishing Company, Inc., 2021, 32 pp., $17.99, hard cover) A young boy stands on the sidewalk staring at his pocket money. He plans to buy himself something special. As he walks through the bustling marketplace, he is close to a food stall with […]
Life in the Tule Lake Stockade
July 21, 2022 by Leave a Comment
TULE LAKE STOCKADE DIARY: NOVEMBER 13, 1943-FEBRUARY 14, 1944 By Tatsuo Ryusei Inouye (Los Angeles: Nancy Oda Publishing, 2020, 256 pp., $40, hard cover) There now exists a richly diverse number of publications devoted to the World War II concentration camp for Japanese Americans generically called Tule Lake. This penal facility was initially known as […]
Shining inspirations
July 21, 2022 by Leave a Comment
I Am Able to Shine By Korey Watari, illustrated by Mike Wu (Two Lions, 2022, 40 pp., $10.29, hard cover) This book was written about a Japanese American girl named Keiko who is very self-confident. She is determined to shine. “Her generous heart fills her with strength and purpose.” Her mother inspires her and Keiko […]
A celebration of community, multiculturalism through cuisine
July 21, 2022 by Leave a Comment
Dumplings for Lili By Melissa Iwai (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2021, 48 pp., $17.95, hard cover) “Dumplings for Lili” is a heartwarming intergenerational story of heritage, culture and food. Lili is thrilled when her Nai Nai asks her to help make bao. The “bundles of warm, doughy, juicy yumminess” are Lili’s favorite food. […]
On cultivating an aesthetic
July 21, 2022 by Leave a Comment
SIMPLICITY AT HOME: JAPANESE RITUALS, RECIPES AND ARRANGEMENTS FOR THOUGHTFUL LIVING By Yumiko Sekine and Jenny Wapner Photography by Nao Shimizu. (San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2021, 224 pp., $27.50, hard cover) Yumiko Sekine shares a distinct aesthetic that blends Japanese simplicity with western influences and touches. While the book has recipes, it is best read […]
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