Yokohama, California

by Toshio Mori, Xiaojing Zhou (Introduction), William Saroyan (Introduction)

Yokahama, California, originally published in 1949, is the first published collection of short stories by a Japanese American. Set in the fictional community of Yokahama, California, Mori’s work is alive with the people, gossip, humor, and legends of Japanese America in the late 1930s and early 1940s.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Asian American, Japan, United States, Japanese Literature, 20th Century

176 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 1, 1985

Reviews

[Kazen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I came to this book with more of a historical lens than a literary one - what was it like to be Japanese-American in the years before World War II? What did a Japanese neighborhood in Oakland look like? Mori lovingly sketches all kinds of characters in this collection of short stories, from the town drunk to high schoolers to a lady who makes the narrator doughnuts whenever he stops by.

If you're looking for beautiful writing on the sentence level you may be disappointed. Mori isn't a completely native speaker of English - I was able to back translate some of his sentences into Japanese, where they made a little more sense. That being said, every now and then there's a line describing a character or a feeling that left me rattled, it's so good.

A great book for those with an interest in Japanese-American life in the 30s and 40s, but it's a little harder to recommend outside of that sweet spot.

[John Owen · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading so many "products" of MFA creative writing programs, it's a delight to read the work of a naturally capable writer with an interesting story to tell. Mori gives us a glimpse into the lives of Japanese living in Oakland, California just before WWII and up to the start of the war. I found it fascinating. Mori captured in several short stories, a fragile moment in time.

[V · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely essential reading. Deceptively accessible diction, underneath and between which lies enormous pathos, implication, and questions: what is American? What will become of us? What is there for the next generation? What is my place and my future here? How do the young, so different from the old, create a new 'American'? And when read in hindsight (some of which is provided by stories added after the war) it is hard not to read every story bitterly, and with tears. Belongs in high school classrooms as much as any literary giant of the era. Incredible.

[Alan Wang · Rating 5 out of 5]

Toshio Mori’s short story collection is set in pre-internment Japanese-American communities in California. Just like Hisaye Yamamoto’s Seventeen Syllables, the collection begins with introductions, ordered from most recent to oldest. I always get a kick out of reading these, as they contextualize the writers of the earlier introductions while revealing the endings of most of the stories. It includes a piece by Lawson Inada (of aiiieeeee) that criticizes Saroyan’s assimilationist characterization of Mori and defends the importance of the Japanese-American setting and characters.

“Lil Yokohama”, as Lawson Inada puts it, is a description of an ethnic paradise where Mori focuses on the Japanese-American community there without having to justify its existence relative to white Americans. In Lil Yokohama, there is no implicit or explicit acknowledgement of foreignness.

One small detail I really appreciated was the confident way Mori describes the baseball teams: the San Jose Asahis and the Alameda Taiikyu. Mori confidently narrates the entire story without using any ethnic labels (such as Japanese-American baseball team). This is the level of assuredness in an Asian American community that is neither enclave nor exclave that I would hope to one day be a part of.

The other stories are also worth paying attention to. “The Chessmen” explores conflicts and the Japanese-American work culture across different generations of immigrants. “The End of the Line” is a story that creates a beautiful but also wistful description of how friends and acquaintances across two countries appear from the perspective of an immigrant who has not been to their home village in decades and can only relate what’s happening there now with their memory captured in the year they left.

[Toshio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Greatly influenced by Sherwood Anderson's "Winesburg, Ohio", Toshio Mori (not me) was inspired to write Yokohama, California. Through his use of the Japanese American early nisei vernacular, he captures the essence and flavor of the prewar Japanese American communities in the East Bay and San Francisco; communities whose identities after the war (and more importantly after the internment camps) were utterly lost. "Seventh Street Philosopher" and "The Woman Who Makes Swell Donuts" are personal favorites.

[Tony · Rating 5 out of 5]

A masterpiece of not only Asian American literature, but literature period. Toshio Mori writes beautifully of family, friends, elders. "The Woman who makes Swell Donuts" speaks of pause, and of silence being the most "beautiful symphony". I never get tired of reading this book.

[Glenn Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting set of early 1940's short stories by a Japanese author. Stories of emigration and staying at home, leaving family and traditions and creating new ones. While these stories are dated for the modern reader, they impart a certain sadness if separation that is timeless.

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read about this collection of stories either in the NYT or the Smithsonian. It intrigued me to learn that the author was so well thought of by William Saroyan and that the publication of his short stories was delayed by WWII. So I acquired a copy and read the stories. I found them to be enigmatic and elegant stories of life in a Japanese-American neighborhood prior to the war. Toshio Mori tells the reader the story and allows the reader to fill in the blanks. And now I am reading Traci Chee's We Are Not Free Lib/E which deals with the same theme. Seventy-six years later the betrayal of Japanese citizens still looms large. Against the backdrop of Mori's book, where we learn about the pride of being an American and the belief that because people looked the way they do they must be enemies. Can we ever defeat prejudice, discrimination, and hatred of the other?

[Shana · Rating 3 out of 5]

These short stories provide a glimpse at (mostly) pre-WWII Japanese-American life. They are snapshots of a community in a moment of time before which so, so much changed. For most Americans, it's like Japanese-American history started with their imprisonment during WWII, but we know that that is obviously not the case. Yet when do we get to learn about what their lives were like prior to that? Toshio Mori captures this in simple language. But don't let the length of these stories and their language deceive you; Mori reveals a lot about the psyche of his community. This is an important piece of history.

[Andrew Luke · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very accessible read, which I really enjoyed. A collection of short stories from Japanese immigrants living in California in the early 20th century. Despite the fact that the book is close to 100 years old there is still a lot of cultural similarity. We see parents worried about their kids, and kids embracing or shirking work, crushes, aspirations and perspiration.

As with any omnibus some pieces are stronger than others, but I’m definitely glad I read it, especially since I picked it up blindly and had no real expectations going in to it.

[Melinda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible, underrated, and intimately written. The stories are intricately woven together and comment on problematic racial attitudes in America that unfortunately remain relevant to this day. It makes you reflect on how far the U.S. has come in changing its attitude towards foreigners and accurately depicts the struggle that generations of immigrants continue to face in the adversity of ignorance and culture-shaming.

[Richard O. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Toshio Mori’s Yokohama, California gave me something more than influence. It delivered a vision of a pre-war, intact Japanese American community with foibles, humor and simple wisdom in stories like “The Woman Who Makes Swell Doughnuts.” It was something I’d never experienced before in literature or in life. First published in 1949, the book was the first collection of stories by a Nikkei author. Anti-Japanese sentiment likely delayed its appearance. The collection was compared to Sherwood Anderson’s Winesburg, Ohio and praised by William Saroyan. Mori was born in Oakland in 1910. During World War II, his family was interned in Topaz Relocation Center in Utah. His second collection, The Chauvinist, came out in 1979. The two books were granted a modest second life, sustained by University of Washington Press and Asian American Studies programsa. As a young, aspiring Sansei writer, it was important to me to be aware of predecessors and to have some knowledge of the pre-internment experience. When I was born in 1950, dispersion and diaspora were facts. One of the first questions Nisei asked upon meeting one another for the first time was, “What camp were you in?”

[Shelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75

[M · Rating 5 out of 5]

read lil yokohama

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book. Not a glossy finely edited book. Written to get a feel for the people and the time.

[alicebme · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is small and you should read it. Everyone is somebody.

[Abby · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

This book felt like home. There are no main characters, no real plot, but you get the sense that the community itself *is* the character. Though fictional, it is very much alive.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

wonderful stories! these mostly take place in the Oakland area

[Zhouweiwen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reminds me of Cannery Row with a lighter touch.

[amelia blu · Rating 2 out of 5]

probably three stars but i read it with a bad attitude

[Andie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for Japanese-American Lit

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yokohama, California is the first published collection of short stories by a Japanese American. Originally slated for publication in 1942, publication was delayed until 1949 due to the onset of WWII and anti-Japanese sentiment. It contains 22 stories of uneven quality, and many of the pieces can't properly be considered short stories but rather character studies or vignettes. Of the fuller pieces, "Say It With Flowers," "Nodas in America" and "Business at Eleven" are especially good.

What was more interesting to me were the two introductions. Appearing first is the 1985 introduction written by Lawson Fusao Inada, a poet and Professor of English at Oregon State, followed by the 1949 introduction by author William Saroyan. Inada's introduction is fulsome, to say the least:

This is more than a book. This is legacy, tradition. This is the enduring strength, the embodiment of a people. This is the spirit, the soul. This is the community, the identity. This is the pride, the joy, the love. This is Yokohama, California. This is Japanese America.

Well okay, but no. This is Japanese America at a specific time and in a specific place as seen through the lens of Toshio Mori. Let's not get crazy and overstate things.

But contrast that with Saroyan's introduction, which is at best condescending and at worst insulting:

Of the thousands of unpublished writers in America there are probably no more than three who cannot write better English than Toshio Mori. His stories are full of grammatical errors. His use of English, especially when he is most eager to say something good, is very bad. Any high-school teacher of English would flunk him in grammar and punctuation. ... All I can do is hope that Toshio Mori will become more lucid ...

Yikes. Although Saroyan also praises Mori as "an important American writer," I do think he comes perilously close to, "he wrote a book, even though he can't even speak English!" Mori was a second-generation Japanese American, born and raised in the United States. His English is fine. The weird thing is that Mori and Saroyan were quite good friends, which is good I suppose. I'd hate to see what Saroyan would say if he didn't like Mori.

Three stars for the stories themselves, and an extra star for the nutty introductions.

[Connor Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author's writing reminds me a bit of Chekhov, with its focus on character sketches and familiar scenes that hold a bit of deeper universality. Sadly, unlike Chekhov, this seems to be his only book of short stories that is anywhere near attainable.

I used to think it was just Banana Yoshimoto's books that could give me that familiar, good tingle. But now I'm quite pleased to say that all of Toshio Mori's stories gave me that familiar tingle. I don't know what it is that gives me the tingle, but rest assured that I won't stop until I find out.

It's also weird and cool that while reading these stories I get the feeling that that's what life was like for my grandparents.

All in all, a collection of very human stories. Granted, I may be in a position to relate more with these stories, but still. It's an outright shame that Toshio Mori wasn't appreciated back in his day.

[Micah L.]

I hope this book is as great as my mother continues to tell me it is. I remember specifically eyeing this book at a local cafe in New Orleans, as well as on my mothers endless floor to ceilings bookshelf in her office when I was younger. Seems I had remembered it for some inexplicable reason, and found it.
Coincidence?
I think yes.

[Molly Mejstrik · Rating 3 out of 5]

Favorite Quotes and Sections:

"I sing gratefully that such a common experience becomes an event, an event of necessity and growth"- pg. 23, "The woman who makes swell doughnuts"

"Toshio Mori"- pg. 39-45
"He who has the laughing face"- pg. 123

[Janet Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe living in the Bay Area most of my life generates a sense of loyalty or sensitivity to the Japanese American struggle to survive in a country that both loves and disrespects a beautiful culture. Not what I expected, however, an interesting read.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

A classic. Should be considered canonical.

[Othy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very interesting group of stories. Some of them are rather simple and uninteresting, but towards the end Mori really develops a sense of a mode of living. Very deep and simple at the same time.

[James Geddes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found the collection of short stories engaging, offering the reader insight into growing up in California as a Japanese American.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of short stories that make for a compelling portrait of Japanese-American life in pre-war California. I especially liked Akira Yano, Lil Yokohama, and The Chessman.