Nikkei in the Pacific Northwest

Scholars discuss the theme of resistance within 20th-century Japanese American communities

Challenging the notion that Nikkei individuals before and during World War II were helpless pawns manipulated by forces beyond their control, the diverse essays in this rich collection focus on the theme of resistance within Japanese American and Japanese Canadian communities to twentieth-century political, cultural, and legal discrimination. They illustrate how Nikkei groups were mobilized to fight discrimination through assertive legal challenges, community participation, skillful print publicity, and political and economic organization.

Comprised of all-new and original research, this is the first anthology to highlight the contributions and histories of Nikkei within the entire Pacific Northwest, including British Columbia.

Louis Fiset is affiliate associate professor of dentistry at the University of Washington and the author of Imprisoned Apart: The World War II Correspondence of an Issei Couple. Gail M. Nomura is assistant professor of American ethnic studies at the University of Washington. The other contributors include Noriko Asato, Michiko Midge Ayukawa, Roger Daniels, Gail Lee Dubrow, Andrea Geiger-Adams, Arthur A. Hansen, James A. Hirabayashi, Masumi Izumi, Eric L. Muller, Patricia E. Roy, and Robert C. Sims.

"[Nikkei in the Pacific Northwest] is a valuable addition to Japanese American history and should provoke specialists and nonspecialists alike to pay greater attention to region in discussions of ethnicity and immigration in the American West. Its essays also suggest exciting possibilities for further research— especially in such underexplored areas as Japanese-Native relations in Yakima and cross-border relations with Canada."

"These essays are well researched, thoroughly documented, and provide readers new knowledge and insights on issues many know only superficially. The[y] are well written and make interesting reading for the public. They are also a good resource for students searching for information."

"A valuable resource on Nikkei history."

"The collection's solid scholarship and research moves the study of Japanese Americans 'outside the usual California-centered framework.' [It] could easily be used in classes dealing with the Northwest or Asian Americans. Each essay stands alone as a tribute to the vitality of Nikkei, such as Gordon Hirabayashi, and their descendants."