From Thorns to Blossoms: A Japanese American Family in War and Peace

by Mitzi Asai Loftus

Mitsuko “Mitzi” Asai was not yet ten years old in the spring of 1942 when President Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066 sent 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry—about two-thirds of them US citizens—from their homes on the West Coast to inland prison camps. They included Mitzi and most of her family, who owned a fruit orchard in Hood River, Oregon. The Asais spent much of World War II in the camps while two of the older sons served in the Pacific in the US Army. Three years later, when the camps began to close, the family returned to Hood River to find an altered community. Shop owners refused to serve neighbors they had known for decades; racism and hostility were open and largely unchecked. Humiliation and shame drove teenaged Mitzi to reject her Japanese heritage, including her birth name. More than a decade later, her life took another turn when a Fulbright grant sent her to teach in Japan, where she reconnected with her roots.


In From Thorns to Blossoms, Mitzi recounts her rich and varied life, from a childhood surrounded by barbed wire and hatred to a successful career as a high school English teacher and college instructor in English as a Second Language. Today, Asai descendants continue to tend the Hood River farm while the town confronts its shameful history. Originally published in 1990 as Made in Japan and Settled in Oregon, this revised and expanded edition describes the positive influence Mitzi’s immigrant parents had on their children, provides additional context for her story, and illuminates the personal side of a dark chapter in US history. It’s the remarkable story of a transformation from thorns into blossoms, pain into healing.

Genres: Memoir

227 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 5, 2024

Reviews

[Thomas DeWolf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having met the author at two different events where she presented her story, I looked forward to reading her book. What a treat! She shares her and her family's story of several of them being incarcerated at so-called "internment camps" (actually incarceration camps), while her brothers were enlisted in the U.S. Military fighting for the U.S. in World War II, and all the discrimination and mistreatment she and they faced after returning to Oregon after the war. For someone who was treated so poorly, Mitzi Asai Loftus is a happy, joyous, forgiving and kind person, far more than I believe I would be in her position. I wish everyone would read her story and have a more complete understanding of what Americans of Japanese descent were subjected to during the war and after. This is a wonderful book!

[allison · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was just an incredible read. so incredible that i went to the oregon state university website and ordered a print copy after reading it as a library loan because i need to keep it forever. i grew up in minnesota and in my schooling, the inhumane treatment of japanese americans was touched on, most of my memory of what we learned was in 9th grade honors civics as we tackled some of the most well known supreme court cases- namely the korematsu case. my boyfriend lives in oregon and i have visited many times. i was so surprised to see that Tot was in minnesota at fort snelling (where i had a birthday party as a child and went on a couple field trips as a student).

overall, this is a very well written piece of historical work. it made me nauseous reading how she and other japanese americans were treated, especially because i wasn’t fully aware until reading this. i am so grateful to mitzi asai loftus for sharing her account of the events herself and every japanese american lived through. we must read things like this and be aware of our past failings as a country, otherwise we are doomed to repeat it and i fear we are close to another wave of this behavior by our government. i really have no words but gratitude to mitzi for writing this book.

[Debbe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this book was quite personal to me as both a Japanese American whose family was also incarcerated and as someone from Hood River. Though my family was in California when incarcerated and moved to Hood River in the 1960’s the author’s experience in HR was worse than, though similar, to mine.

My grandparents and father told me of their time in camp (Amache) though only under protest. They also rarely spoke of that time. They did talk of their life before and after the camp. It changed the trajectory of our family as we moved east afterwards and not back to California, for many reasons. The author’s life before and after camp tracked with all I’ve heard. A time we’d hoped would not happen again and yet, likely it will.

I loved the author’s trips to Japan to work and to connect with family. I very much appreciated how strong her family’s bonds were to each other. Fantastic book on this blighted time in our history.

[Katlyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reflective, well-done, informative but also deeply personal account of living as a Japanese American (US citizen) during WWII in forced incarceration camps in the US. I appreciated the realism and honesty with which her experiences were recounted and the pacing and personal touches that kept the book interesting from beginning to end.

[Cassy Plowchalk · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75