Nisei: The Quiet Americans [Paperback]

Bill Hosokawa (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2002

Hailed at the time of its publication in 1969, Bill Hosokawa's "Nisei" remains an inspiring account of the original Japanese immigrants and their role in the development of the West. Hosokawa recounts the ordeals faced by the immigrant generation and their American-born offspring, the Nisei;the ill-advised government decisions that led to their uprooting during WWII; how they withstood harsh camp life; and their courageous efforts to prove their loyalty to the United States.

Product Details

• Paperback: 570 pages
• Publisher: University Press of Colorado; Revised edition (April 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0870816683
• ISBN-13: 978-0870816680
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,037,942 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Unknown history, December 18, 2002

By 

greyhound1954 "greyhound1954" (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nisei: The Quiet Americans (Paperback)

Most Americans are familiar with the history of oppression in our nation only as it was taught in school. While we know quite a bit about overt prejudice against blacks and Native Americans, and maybe against organized labor and our particular ancestors, we know little about other ethnic groups. Completed when Nixon was president, "Nisei" was an attempt to bring to our attention the struggle and ultimate triumph of Japanese-Americans. The book was a huge undertaking, and the author, a newspaper journalist and editor, takes pains to present an unbiased look at the history of his people in the context of the America in which they lived. Ironically, my one complaint about the book is that it is too even-handed. Mr. Hosokawa often went to great lengths to present the viewpoints of government officials who formulated policies that discriminated against Issei and Nisei, especially those decisions made in the wake of Pearl Harbor. The book was written in the style of most history books at the time, and it can be a dry read. Still, the book is a critical resource for anyone researching Japanese-American history.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nisei: Quiet Americans, August 23, 2002

By 

Anne (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nisei: The Quiet Americans (Paperback)

Nisei: The Quiet Americans is a great book on the internment period of the Japanese Americans in World War II. It tells of the history of the Japanese coming to America, the development of the Japanese during the years before the war, and it vividly describes life in the internment barracks. I especially liked this book because it gave a comprehensive guide to the history of the Japanese Americans. Nisei: The Quiet Americans is an excellent addition to any history buff's bookshelf!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a history, June 18, 2008

By 

Mark W. Jeffries (Madison, WI, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Nisei: The Quiet Americans (Paperback)

In Wisconsin, in the fall of 2007, I saw a news release that Bill Hosokawa had died. I was intrigued that his death was national news. He was an admired editor at The Denver Post, back when I lived in Denver. The news release said that Bill Hosokawa had writen Nisei: The Quiet Americans. I ordered a used copy of the book, though Amazon.
Nisei is a very interesting book. It gives the history of the very early and early arrival of the Japanese in the USA. After the Chinese Exclusion Act, the Japanese were still eligible to come to the USA, notably to do farm labor.
The Issei were first-generation Japanese-Americans, few speaking English, none allowed to obtain citizenship. The Nisei were their children, most not speaking fluent Japanese, citizens of the US by soil of birth. The average Nisei was in his or her late teens when WWII broke out.
The Japanese in Hawaii and on the mainland had been under surveillance before the onset of the war, by the Special Defense Unit of the Department of Justice. Three categories of danger, A, B, or C, had been established. "Leaders of organizations with strong Japanese ties were automatically given an "A" classification; in the event of war all "A" Issei would be picked up immediately."
The internment of West-coast Japanese-Americans proved to have been unnecessary. Attorney General Biddle "eventualy admitted that his men had been making searches without warrants in pursuit of fifth columnists, but they encountered 'no Japanese saboteurs...and no illegal radio transmitter was found at all.'" He said "We have not uncovered through these searches any dangerous persons that we could not otherwise know about."
But, the internment of West-Coast Japanese did occur. The book tells of the internment process and details the experience of the Japanese in the camps.Poetry heading two chapters tells part of the story:

Snow upon the rooftop
Snow upon the coal
Winter in Wyoming-
Winter in My Soul

Against the New Year sky
Beyond the fence flutters
The Stars and Stripes

The story of the creation and activity of the Japanese Americans Citizens League is quite interesting. Its executive leader became Mike Masaoka, from Utah, who before accepting the leadership offer had talked with friends, including Utah Senator Elbert Thomas, a Mormon missionary in Japan in his youth. Senator Thomas encouraged Mike Masaoka to take the JACL post.(Senator Thomas also proved valuable in assisting the Japanese-Americans after the internment took place.)
In the book, there is a wealth of detail about many aspects of the experience of the Japanese-Americans after the onset of the war. The Japanese on Hawaii were not interned--they were too integral to the local economy. The Kibei, children of Issei, who had returned for a while to Japan for Japanese education proved invaluable to the US military as translators. The Nisei fought very bravely with the US military in Europe.
This book, Nisei: The Quiet Americans, tells a "brief epic" story of one national group's experience, accomplishments, and contributions after arriving in the USA. I found it very interesting reading.