The Journey: Japanese Americans, Racism and Renewal [Library Binding]

Shelia Hamanaka (Author), Sheila Hamanaka (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 9 and up

"A moving depiction of the Japanese experience in 20th-century America, centered on the Japanese internment during WWII. Hamanaka has painted a 25-foot, five panel mural summarizing this experience--an artwork that's a complex, elegantly orchestrated blend of realistic portraits, caricatures and traditional symbols that recalls the social protest art of the '30s . . . The author writes simply but without bitterness. . . . This handsome book is not only an excellent introduction to an important, too little known chapter of American history, but a fine lesson in looking at the details and iconography of a work of art."--Kirkus Reviews, pointed review. Full-color illustrations.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The Journey is based on Hamanaka's extraordinary 25-foot mural that depicts the experiences of Japanese Americans with emphasis upon the prejudice and injustice that culminated in their incarceration during World War II. Close-ups of the mural--along with a final panoramic view of its five panels--are accompanied by the author's impassioned text, which includes mention of her grandfather's death in one of America's Japanese concentration camps. The Journey is a significant book not only because it elucidates an episode in American history that has long needed exposure, but also because of Hamanaka's powerful and moving paintings. Her illustrations of historical details, the symbols from Japanese culture and especially the unforgettable faces are brilliantly executed. Unfortunately, some portions of the text present a confusing amalgam of history, art catalogue description and biography. The book's organization seems almost haphazard: buried in the preface, e.g., are definitions of Japanese words without which the reader cannot fully decipher the text. Though flawed, the work is a dramatic and visually arresting exploration of an important topic. Ages 10-up.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Grade 4 Up-- Hamanaka has created a five-panel mural depicting the Japanese-American experience with particular emphasis on the watershed of that experience, the concentration camps. Here the mural is reproduced detail by detail with amplifying text. The entire mural in toto is reproduced at the end in a two-page spread. The paintings themselves are beautiful, bold, and moving, covering the public facts yet incorporating a personal touch in a cameo of the artist's siblings. When broken into smaller segments, as here, they reveal an extraordinary amount of detail, all of it meaningful. Hamanaka proves herself a lively yet scholarly writer as well. The anguish and horror of Japanese-Americans during World War II is placed clearly and vividly in context with narrative and contemporary quotations. Absorbing facts are brought to light, such as Germans at the Nuremberg Trials justifying prison camps, citing the American model. Earl Warren's stance is positively chilling, particularly in view of his later role as chief investigator of the Kennedy assassination. The prison camp protests and reprisals are also brought out with full pathos. More recent events such as the quest for reparations--legal, moral, and monetary--bring this journey to a fitting close. Hamanaka has created a visual monument to the struggle of Japanese-Americans, supplementing her original creation with prose of simple and unique power. There are other books on this subject--Kitano's The Japanese Americans (Chelsea House, 1987) , Davis' Behind Barbed Wire (Dutton, 1982) among them--but none with the punch and universality of this one.
- John Philbrook, San Francisco Public Library
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Library Binding
• Publisher: Orchard Books (NY) (December 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0531084493
• ISBN-13: 978-0531084496
• Product Dimensions: 11.5 x 9.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,654,264 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great book with tons of facts, March 25, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Journey (Paperback)

This book really opened my eyes to how the "nationalist" Americans really treated the Japanese-Americans. This book totally blew my mind and made me angry. I was angry because we were just as bad as those nazi's. All in all i'd recommend this book if you want to learn the truth.