The Great Unknown and the Unknown Great
Nichi Bei News columnist Greg Robinson, Ph.D., author of By Order of the President: FDR and the Internment of Japanese Americans and A Tragedy of Democracy: Japanese Confinement in North America, is a professor of history at l’Université du Québec À Montréal. He can be reached at robinson.greg@uqam.ca. The views expressed in the preceding column are not necessarily those of the Nichi Bei News.
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Internationally-trained violinist taught at Tanforan and Topaz
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In a recent column, I told the story of Newton Tani, the talented Nisei pianist who taught at the music schools at Tanforan, Calif. and Topaz (Central Utah). Another eminent […] READ MORE
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Gratitude for Art Hansen, ‘a gifted mentor and inspiration’
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Among specialists in Japanese American history, few have made such an enduring contribution as Arthur Hansen. While his work as a longtime scholar and activist are well known in the […] READ MORE
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50 years after ‘Coda’s’ debut centering a queer romantic triangle
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This column forms part of a series on the Queer history of Japanese Americans that I publish each June to mark LGBT Pride month. This year’s installment discusses Alberto Isaac’s […] READ MORE
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People who were allowed to remain on the West Coast during the mass incarceration
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In the course of researching the life of Kenji Inomata, a retired Issei naval veteran who was protected by his old Naval superiors from removal under Executive Order 9066, I […] READ MORE
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On ‘Americans from Japan’ author Bradford Smith
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Recently, I published a biographical article on the writer Bradford Smith, but only briefly mentioned his notable 1948 book “Americans from Japan.” Published only two years after the closing of […] READ MORE
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Anne Emery’s novel reflected her ‘deep sympathy’ for JA camp survivors
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During the first decade after World War II, several novels that centered on the wartime experience of Japanese Americans appeared in print in the United States. Apart from the Hawai‘i-born […] READ MORE
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THE GREAT UNKNOWN AND THE UNKNOWN GREAT: Novels helped inform popular knowledge of JA mass incarceration’s injustices
GREG ROBINSON, Nichi Bei Weekly Columnist
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In a recent column, I mentioned James Edmiston’s 1955 novel “Home Again,” which was a notable entry among the set of postwar works of fiction that referenced the mass confinement […] READ MORE
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THE GREAT UNKNOWN AND THE UNKNOWN GREAT: On corresponding with the late playwright and activist Hiroshi Kashiwagi
GREG ROBINSON, Nichi Bei Weekly Columnist
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Nov. 8, 2022 marks the 100th birthday of the late Hiroshi Kashiwagi. A playwright, poet, actor, storyteller and activist, he shined in diverse fields of endeavor, and was one of […] READ MORE
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THE GREAT UNKNOWN AND THE UNKNOWN GREAT: The Roosevelt Letter
GREG ROBINSON, Nichi Bei Weekly Columnist
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This week’s column is a mystery story involving the identity of a secret champion of Japanese Americans, one who helped win them important official support in the months following the […] READ MORE
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THE GREAT UNKNOWN AND THE UNKNOWN GREAT: S.F. pianist and teacher Florence Takayama Iwamoto’s life of musicality
GREG ROBINSON, Nichi Bei Weekly Columnist
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A number of my recent Nichi Bei Weekly columns, some written together with Jonathan van Harmelen, have focused on Japanese Americans in classical music in the mid-20th century. My initial […] READ MORE
