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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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
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THE GREAT UNKNOWN AND THE UNKNOWN GREAT: Recounting ‘Sushi and Sourdough’ author and WWII vet Tooru Kanazawa’s life
GREG ROBINSON, Nichi Bei Weekly Columnist
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Tooru Kanazawa, an early Nisei writer and journalist, distinguished himself as a community activist and soldier during World War II. At the end of his long life, he achieved widespread […] READ MORE
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THE GREAT UNKNOWN AND THE UNKNOWN GREAT: Prewar attitudes toward queer sexuality in Japanese-language press
GREG ROBINSON, Nichi Bei Weekly Columnist
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This is the 16th year that I have had the pleasure of presenting my annual queer history column. I want to start today’s installment by acknowledging the 2020 online J-Sei […] READ MORE
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THE GREAT UNKNOWN AND THE UNKNOWN GREAT: ‘The Great Unknown’s’ 100th edition
GREG ROBINSON, Nichi Bei Weekly Columnist
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A random perusal of my list of titles has led me to a stunning discovery: This week’s column represents the 100th installment of “The Great Unknown and the Unknown Great” […] READ MORE
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THE GREAT UNKNOWN AND THE UNKNOWN GREAT: Rediscovering artist and political activist Chuzo Tamotsu
GREG ROBINSON, Nichi Bei Weekly Columnist
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Chuzo Tamotsu, a colorful figure, was one of the most skilled and visible members of the circle of Issei artists in New York in the 1930s. Chuzo Tamotsu (aka Tamotzu) […] READ MORE
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THE GREAT UNKNOWN AND THE UNKNOWN GREAT: Nisei stories
GREG ROBINSON, Nichi Bei Weekly Columnist
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In an essay in my co-edited 2018 book “John Okada: The Life & Rediscovered Work of the Author of No-No Boy,” I described Okada’s writing as “a seed in a […] READ MORE
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THE GREAT UNKNOWN AND THE UNKNOWN GREAT: Lucile Colyer’s account of WWII’s impact on her Nikkei friends
GREG ROBINSON, Nichi Bei Weekly Columnist
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In a “Great Unknown” column earlier this year, I spoke about Sam Constantino Jr.’s 1946 novel “Tale of the Twain.” The book is a complex narrative that takes place in both […] READ MORE
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THE GREAT UNKNOWN AND THE UNKNOWN GREAT: Rethinking “By Order of the President”
GREG ROBINSON, Nichi Bei Weekly Columnist
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In my Aug. 19, 2021 column of the Nichi Bei Weekly, I commemorated the 20th anniversary of the publication of my first book, “By Order of the President: FDR and […] READ MORE
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