WWII memories of the Japanese in the U.S.

Posted on August 23, 2009 by moonbridgebooks

Continuing the thread of Japanese memories of WWII during this month of August, the anniversary of the end of WWII, there are many memoirs and historical fiction stories written about the Japanese internment camp experience. This subject was not in my school history books and I did not know about this until several years before writing my Japanese-born mother’s memoir, Cherry Blossoms in Twilight. When I told my mother about the internment camps, she was quite surprised, but seemed to accept that wars result in unusual situations and people do as they are told (at least in Japan).

Recently, I have become involved with a friend in video recording and writing the memories of an 89-year-old internment camp survivor who, several months after the War, went to Hiroshima with her husband in order for her husband to take care of family business. I used a tripod for the camera so I could sit on the floor at her feet, eyes big and mouth open, like a child filled with wonder. The Japanese tend to be reticent and do not like to speak about themselves or any “uncomfortable” experiences, so we were lucky to have an open, friendly storyteller who made us laugh even while she stunned us with some of her tales. The results of this project, which covers a Nisei experience in both the U.S. and Japan around the time of war, will not only enrich our storyteller’s family, but preserve an important part of history.

While Farewell to Manzanar may be the first and best-known book about the Japanese internment camp experience, there are other true personal narratives that followed:

Looking Like the Enemy by Mary Matsuda Gruenewald
Only What We Could Carry, Editor Lawson Fusao Inada (anthology)
Desert Exile by Yoshiko Uchida

Also, Topaz Moon by Chiura Obata (of the famous Obata family) is a beautifully done booklet of Obata’s stunning artwork mixed with some of his writings, capturing the bleak Utah camp he was sent to at age 57 when he was a professor of art at UC-Berkeley.

When researching internment experiences it is interesting to note that each experience is different, and often varies due to age at internment, temperament, and the particular camp sequestered at. Which makes each memoir fascinating.

Linda Austin
“Cherry Blossoms in Twilight”
http://www.moonbridgebooks.com
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WWII memoirs of the Japanese home front

Posted on August 19, 2009 by moonbridgebooks

Aspects of WWII still push hot buttons, cause arguments, and disgorge hatred. This August marks the 64th anniversary of the end of WWII, a monstrous war that resulted in monstrous atrocities and a monstrous loss of human life and potential. One of the hot button subjects is the behavior of the Japanese – both military and civilians. How could ordinary men – devoted husbands, gentle fathers, beloved sons – wish to fight to the death and torture and kill innocent civilians along the way? How could everyday citizens blindly follow their leaders, persuaded to either fight to the death with homemade spears or to kill their own selves rather than be captured by the enemy? While these questions may never be answered to our satisfaction, below are six memoirs or collections of memories written about the war years from the Japanese perspective – only six as narratives of the Japanese experience are rare.

Shig: The True Story of an American Kamikaze by Shigeo Imamura is an unusual narrative of how loyalties can change when both “parents” are fighting. Imamura became a respected figure in ESL education for both his countries.

A Boy Called H by Kappa Senoh, while a fictionalized memoir, is based on a true story and is a highly educational, fascinating, and fun read that exposes much of the truth of Japanese civilian life around WWII.

Leaves from an Autumn of Emergencies by Samuel Hideo Yamashita is a varied selection of wartime diaries kept by Japanese school children, soldiers, housewives, storekeepers, etc., and while not exciting they are windows into the thoughts and everyday lives of those who lived during that time.

Senso: The Japanese Remember the Pacific War are letters to the editor of major Japanese newspaper Asahi Shinbun sent in 1986 and 1987 in response to a call for memories of WWII.

So Sad to Fall in Battle by Kumiko Kakehashi is a revealing study of the Iwo Jima battlefield based on interviews and the collection of letters and drawings General Tadamachi Kuribayashi (Letters from Iwo Jima) sent to his wife and young children describing thoughts of war and family.

Cherry Blossoms in Twilight by Yaeko Sugama and Linda E. Austin is a simply told narrative of the Japanese culture of the time, a girl’s survival during WWII, and the Occupation experience.
Linda Austin
“Cherry Blossoms in Twilight”
http://www.moonbridgebooks.com
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Frank McCourt view of memoirs

Posted on July 31, 2009 by moonbridgebooks

Frank McCourt has died but leaves a legacy in memoir with Angela’s Ashes, the story of his hardscrabble Irish upbringing. While he has been called the inventor of the “misery memoir,” and indeed his debut work has been followed by many other sob stories of abuse and disorder that seem to compete with one other for the worst of the worst, according to McCourt, “one of the good things about a memoir is looking for something bigger than yourself, you know; something important in your life, rather than just the life itself.” Such is what can make a memoir a cut above the others. A memoir should not be just a rehashing of tears, a perpetual whining, an unremittant complaining, but a look beyond to lessons learned, an enlightenment, a healing, a historical perspective.

McCourt has been accused of exaggerating too much, of making up conversations he couldn’t possibly have remembered as a small boy, but McCourt has an important comment about that, too, in his 2001 interview with Spiked magazine:

“A memoir is an impression of your life, and that gives you a certain amount of leeway. If an autobiography is like a photograph, then a memoir is more like a painting. So I’ve always said to my critics, This is my impression of my life, so what are you gonna do about it?’

McCourt states that memoir is the twin sister to fiction. There is a fine line between memoir and fiction, though, and while both aim to tell a good story the fiction line is crossed when you enter the realm of pure fabrication. Memoir writers are similar to artists who are free to take “artistic license” to re-create a real life snapshot. They add or subtract, alter colors and perspective. Memoir writers can do the same, but obviously in lesser degree to capture our own reality without outright lying or distortion of factual history. Isn’t that a nice thought – we are the Monet’s of the writing world!

Linda Austin
“Cherry Blossoms in Twilight”
http://www.moonbridgebooks.com
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