Only What We Could Carry: The Japanese American Internment Experience [Paperback]

Lawson Fusao Inada (Editor), California Historical Society (Corporate Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2000

During WW2, the US government suspended due process, rounded up more than 100,000 Japanese and American citizens of Japanese descent, and banished them to prison camps in desert wastelands. They were not charged with any crime, except, of course, being Japanese. This collection of haunting reminiscences, letters, stories, poems, and graphic art gives voice to the powerful emotions with which these victims of wartime hysteria struggled. Included are stories of those outside the camps whose lives were interwoven with those inside.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School-The editor of this unusual anthology has drawn from a wealth of material: poetry, prose, biography, news accounts, formal government declarations, letters, and autobiography along with photographs, sketches, and cartoons that reflect the tragedy of the internment. Taken as a whole, it conveys the deep anguish felt by Japanese who defined themselves as citizens of the United States and yet lost their rights as citizens during a time of national fear. There are editorials published in both Japanese-American newspapers and local papers of the time. A girl describes the day she voluntarily left her home to gather with hundreds of other Japanese to board trains to unknown destinations. One selection is from the autobiography of George Takei, Star Trek's Mr. Sulu. There are delicate haiku and woodblock prints. The official documents issued by President Roosevelt that instituted the forced internment are also included. Readers will come away from this book with a deep understanding of the times, the sense of betrayal, and the conflicting feelings among the three major groups of Japanese who went through the ordeal.-Cynthia J. Rieben, W. T. Woodson High School, Fairfax, VA

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Review

"...in these stories are lifted up our humanity, our indomitable spirit and dignity, an implacable quest for justice..." -- Janice Mirikitani

Poet Laureate of San Francisco, 2000

"Contained in these pages are what we have carried...in these stories are lifted up our humanity, our indomitable spirit and dignity, an implacable quest for justice to redeem the crimes committed against an entire race-indeed an entire nation." -- Janice Mirikitani, Poet Laureate of San Francisco, 2000, author of We the Dangerous and Shedding Silence

"Only What We Could Carry gathers together the voices of interment-private, personal stories that could have been lost, but will now be heard and felt. It's as if we have a seat at a family dinner, listening to stories passed down from one generation to another, feeling the pain and the spirit of hope." -- David Mas Masumoto, author of Harvest Son: Planting Roots in American Soil

"Only What We Could Carry gathers together the voices of interment—private, personal stories that could have been lost, but will now be heard and felt..." -- David Mas Masumoto

"Only What We Could Carry gives us yet another way of loking at an American tragedy....Above all, it is a collection of documents which, together, are a testament to the human spirit." -- Roger Daniels, Charles Phelps Taft Professor of History, University of Cincinnati

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 439 pages
• Publisher: Heyday Books; 1st edition (August 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1890771309
• ISBN-13: 978-1890771300
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #70,613 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #11 in Books > Literature & Fiction > United States > Asian American

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Racial Profiling is nothing new in U.S., November 1, 2000

By 

Charles M. Nobles (Tulsa, OK United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Only What We Could Carry: The Japanese American Internment Experience (Paperback)

If you think about it Racial Profiling, much in the news of late, is not a new phenomena in the U.S. We have a long history, almost a tradition, of singling out groups of citizens, usually in the name of some war (Indian wars, War on Drugs), for special treatment under the law. It's not a new practice but it invariably ends up being a tragic mistake. One such tragedy was the imprisonment of Japanese American citizens during the Second World War. While there are a number of books dealing with the political and legal consequences of such governmental action, as well as a growing number of memoirs, to date there has not been an anthology of the voices of the Internment. That oversight has been corrected with this book and what a wonderful addition to the literature it is. In less than 3 months following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor with it's understandable wartime panic, in excess of 100,000 Japanese Americans living in the Western United States were forced from their homes, many with only 48 hours notice, and sent to internment camps scattered among 14 states. Men, women, and children, whose only crime was being of Japanese descent, were banished to what many scholars call concentration camps. They "fit the pattern" and indeed governmental agencies published posters of detailing what "typical" Japanese looked like so they would be easier to detect. This book,using the personal recollections, art, documents, and poetry of many of the internees as well as a number of witnesses and friends, tells the story of the camp experience which is a haunting description of fear, anger, confusion and shame. These voices, reduced to paper, are a tragic reminder of the affects of war, not only on direct participants but frequently on innocents as well. This description by an internee of the physical conditions at a California Assembly Center, where she lived for 6 months, is typical: "Posts strung with chicken-wire appeared on the northeast corner of the camp near the back gate by the railroad siding. The entire area around the gate, including the laundry and the toilets, was completely fenced off, leaving one section open." Perhaps this description of the Tule Lake, California camp will sound familiar:"The guard towers were turrets equipped with machine guns. The outer perimeter was patrolled by a half-dozen tanks and armored Jeeps." There were 18,000 internees in Camp Tule Lake. Half were children. This poem by an internee, one of many in the book, was of particular interest to me: "A daybreak stars disappear, where di I discard my dreams?" Some of the art in the book depicting conditions in the camps will break your heart. Space does not permit a review that will do justice to this book. Suffice to say that it is a testament to the spirit, will, determination, dignity and strength of the Japanese American citizens that were forced to endure such humiliation, degradation, and emotional trauma. A friend of mine say's she knows why the lady holding the scales of justice before the U.S. Supreme Court building is blindfolded. She says there is a tear slipping from her eye. I think if that is true, she must have read this book.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An important account of the Japanese American internment, January 16, 2001

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Only What We Could Carry: The Japanese American Internment Experience (Paperback)

Only What We Could Carry provides an important account of the Japanese American internment experience after the Japanese attack of Pearl Harbor. Personal documents, art and propaganda are presented in a title which captures the camp experience in a series of personal autobiographical revelations. Highly recommended.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Perspectives, November 4, 2001

By 

Yuki Rivera (Berkeley, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Only What We Could Carry: The Japanese American Internment Experience (Paperback)

This book has an impressive collection of accounts from various sources and manages to touch upon any significant Japanese American experience during World War II.
I purchased this book for its coverage of the Nisei 100th and 442nd batalions, and was impressed at the varied perspectives included. From an excerpt from Daniel Inouye's account to a reflection by a concentration camp survivor liberated by men of the 442nd, Only What We Could Carry certainly covers the map.
A good source for those studying any aspect of Japanese American life during the war, and an excellent one for those studying the subject in general.