Nisei: The Quiet Americans, Revised Edition

by Bill Hosokawa

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 World War II; how they withstood harsh camp life; and their courageous efforts to prove their loyalty to the United States. As Hosokawa additionally demonstrates, since World War II, Japanese Americans have achieved exceptional social, economic, and political progress. Their efforts led to apologies by four U.S. presidents for wartime injustices and redress through the landmark Civil Liberties Act of 1988. Brought up-to-date in this newly revised edition, Nisei details the transformation of these "quiet Americans" from despised security risks to respected citizens.

Genres: History, Japanese Literature, World War II, Race

584 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1969

Reviews

[Frank · Rating 4 out of 5]

After it had been sitting on my bookshelf for decades, a few years ago I finally got around to reading Nisei, which centers around my dad’s generation (my mom is Sansei). Some people call the writing dry; some parts greatly reflect Hosokawa’s journalism background, but other parts really came to life and reading the book was a very moving experience. Hosokawa goes deeply into life both in the internment camps and at the war’s front lines, as well as following specific people from before through after.

I’ve seen copies of this book on many people’s shelves, and I’m pretty sure many have gone unread. I get the feeling that people trusted Hosokawa’s narrative abilities and bought the book as a way to say, “This is what we went through”; it’s a symbol of solidarity to many Nisei and Sansei. Nisei is an important read for people of my generation and younger because it creates a framework for lots of the stories we hear about “Camp” and life immediately after.

[James Crawford · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best if not the best examination of the subject. The book goes into Japanese history, how Japanese ended up in Hawaii and on the continental U.S., what kinds of jobs they did, labor unions and anti-Japanese prejudice and numerous other topics.

'No immigrant group encountered higher walls of prejudice and discrimination than did the Japanese-the denial on racist grounds of the right to naturalization, the denial in the areas where they largely lived of the right to own land or enter certain professions, and eventually complete exclusion.'

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read long ago (1975?) and found it eye-opening and compelling; will do full review when I find my notes.

As an aside, the author’s brother was one of my graduate-school professors; I owe him lots.

Note: I read the original version, not the update.

[Jd · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not as good as I had hoped - lost interest and skimmed through most of the book as it read too much like a history textbook.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting history of Japanese Americans, their contributions to the country and their evacuation from the west coast during WWII.