Farewell to Manzanar, Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston, Manzanar Riot, News

In Memoriam: Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston

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To me she at first was just Jeanne Houston, my housing officer in 1970 at Cowell College in the early days of UC Santa Cruz, a younger Nisei with a sunny smile who seemed more like a peer than administrator. We’d share breakfast in the Cowell Commons and not once did she ever mention camp or the war.

So I was surprised a few years after graduating to learn she’d published her memoir as Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston, even more surprised when a TV-movie was announced based on her book. By then I was an acting student in San Francisco and it was amazing to reunite with her and husband James Houston at the audition with John Korty.

two actors in scene
Clyde Kusatsu and Frank Abe in the mess hall scene from the 1976 NBC/Universal film of ‘Farewell to Manzanar.” Cinematography by Hiro Narita, A.S.C.

I’ll always wonder if she put in a good word for me to be cast as the JACL villain, Frank Nishi, a thinly-disguised version of LA JACL leader Fred Tayama. Here’s my big scene, the mess hall meeting that opens with a line shouted by novelist Shawn Wong. The full movie is available by special arrangement on DVD only from the Japanese American National Museum giftshop:

I researched my role by studying Art Hansen’s groundbreaking essay, “The Manzanar Riot: An Ethnic Perspective,” (reprinted for you to read in his 2018 anthology, Barbed Voices), and the experience continued my journey toward understanding the nature of Japanese American resistance to wartime incarceration.

The film aired in an era when you only had three channels to choose from at night, so “Farewell to Manzanar” and the story of the Manzanar revolt commanded the attention of the nation for one evening in March 1976, with fictionalized versions of Harry Ueno and Joe Kurihara brought to life onscreen.

Cast and crew of the film, photo by J.K. Yamamoto
Cast and crew of the film, “Farewell to Manzanar” at a 2001 reunion in San Francisco. Jeanne Houston is fourth from the left. Photo by J.K. Yamamoto

I recently spoke with Jeanne to discuss excerpting her book’s haunting final chapter, “Ten Thousand Voices,” for the postwar section of the Penguin Classics anthology (we later had to trim selections due to space). She said she was thinking of writing a musical based on the camp talent shows at Manzanar. I’m saddened to learn of her passing on December 21. She will be missed, but she leaves a lasting legacy.

"Conscience and the Constitution", "We Hereby Refuse", Events, John Okada, Penguin anthology

Asserting our history and defending civil liberties in 2025

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On this date we’re in a strange transitional phase, preparing to defend democracy and civil liberties, books and libraries, history and knowledge and education, as they all come under concerted and coordinated attack in the four years to come. The example and literature of Japanese American resistance to wartime incarceration is more relevant than ever, and the script will continue to be written and rewritten to confront events as they unfold. Without question, we will look back at this time of relative peace and grace with nostalgia and a degree of anger at how we got here. However, we press forward, and here’s what’s on tap for the first half of 2025. One major event can only be disclosed after the fact.

SEATTLE, WA
Sunday, February 2, 2025, 2:00-4:00 pm
tribute to Ben Masaoka and Criminals
mam’s bookscover
608 Maynard Ave. S.

A panel discussion and celebration of Ben Masaoka’s remarkable novel, Criminals, published posthumously by Propeller Books of Portland. I’ll read a passage from the novel along with novelist Carla Crujido and others TBA and pay tribute to the late author.

SAN JOSE, CA
Sunday, February 23, 2025
2025 Films of Remembrance
San Jose Buddhist Church Betsuin

Films of RememberanceI will moderate the Q and A following the screening of two films on Japanese American resistance to wartime incarceration TBA.

NEW YORK, NY
Tuesday, February 25, 2025, 6:00-8:30 pm
screening of Conscience and the Constitution
 Center on Asian Americans and the Law at Fordham Law School
Gabelli Business School
McNally Theater, First Floor, 140 W 62nd St.

logoThe Center on Asian Americans and the Law at Fordham Law School is screening Conscience and the Constitution, followed by a panel discussion moderated by Judge Denny Chin and featuring Judge Kiyo A. Matsumoto, Kathy Hirata Chin, and Professor Thomas Lee. More details and RSVP here.

SEATTLE, WA
Thursday, April 10, 2025, 7:00 pm
The Gate of Memory book launch
Elliott Bay Book Company

coverI will moderate Brynn Saito’s Seattle appearance for her launch of The Gate of Memory: Poems by Descendants of Nikkei Wartime Incarceration, edited by Brynn and Brandon Shimoda. The evening will also feature readings from featured local poets Sharon Hashimoto, Tamiko Nimura, and Troy Osaki. Preorder it now from Haymarket Books.

BOSTON, MA
Thursday, April 17, 2025, 10:00-11:30 am
Association for Asian American Studies annual conference
The Westin Boston Seaport District
425 Summer Street, Carlton Room

Association for Asian American Studies logoI’ll reflect on a 50-year journey of reinterpreting camp history and, in particular, my current project to adapt John Okada’s No-No Boy for the stage, on the panel, “Interpreting Japanese American Incarceration in the 21st Century Through Alternative Methods.” Our panel features the powerful lineup of Elena Tajima Creef, Dr, Erin Aoyama, Dr. Hana Maruyama, and chair Julia Shizuyo Popham.

logoWELLESLEY, MA
Tuesday, April 22, 2025
Wellesley College

Presenting We Hereby Refuse. Details to come.

SEATTLE, WA
Saturday, May 10, 2024, 11:00 am
University of Washington Humanities First program
Seattle’s Chinatown/International District

Humanities First logoFor the fourth year, I’ll be taking the UW’s freshman core program, Humanities First, on a walking tour of John Okada’s Chinatown, with a stop at the Panama Hotel and ending with lunch at the Bruce Lee table at Tai Tung.

NEW YORK, NY
Wednesday, May 14, 2025, 6:00 pm
Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College
City University of New York
47-49 East 65th Street

graphicFloyd Cheung and I will present The Literature of Japanese American Incarceration during Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month at the New York City home of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, “where some of the most iconic public policy of the 20th century was shaped” — including perhaps his Executive Order 9066?

BRONX, NY
Thursday, May 15, 2025, 10:20-11:05 am
Seminar in Literary Studies
Horace Mann School
231 West 246th Street

logoPresenting The Literature of Japanese American Incarceration to high school seniors in the Seminar in Literary Studies studying “Man’s Search for Meaning in Literature and Film,” taught by Deborah Kassel, a former NEH fellow at the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation summer workshop.

Curriculum guides, Literature of Incarceration, Penguin anthology, Teachers

Teachers Guide for “The Literature of Japanese American Incarceration”

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Just in time for the annual conference this week of the National Council of Teachers of English in Boston, Penguin Random House Education has issued a new Teacher’s Guide to accompany our new Penguin Classics anthology of The Literature of Japanese American Incarceration. You can download it for free as a ten-page PDF.
Continue reading Teachers Guide for “The Literature of Japanese American Incarceration” →

Audiobook, Literature of Incarceration, News, Penguin anthology

Audiobook readers bring “The Literature of Japanese American Incarceration” to life

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painting of fire inside canvas enclosure with fists raised
The audiobook cover comes in q square format that reveals more detail to the right in the original painting by Disney artist Gene Sokioka, entitled “Political Fires of Disconten

Listen to the audiobook for The Literature of Japanese American Incarceration and I guarantee you will come away with an entirely fresh experience of the writings we’ve presented in our new Penguin Classics anthology. Order it here or ask your local public library to order it for you.
Continue reading Audiobook readers bring “The Literature of Japanese American Incarceration” to life →

"We Hereby Refuse", Audiobook, Densho, Jim Akutsu, Literature of Incarceration, Mitsuye Endo, News, Penguin anthology, Tule Lake

Excavating Stories and Unearthing History in Fall 2024

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The weather is turning, and it appears to be time to hit the road again starting this weekend, mostly to promote the new Penguin anthology but also to meet continuing interest in the graphic novel and camp resistance in general. Here’s the list as it stands today of in-person and virtual speaking events for this fall, including serving as headliner for the Densho annual fundraiser. Check the Events page for further updates.
Continue reading Excavating Stories and Unearthing History in Fall 2024 →

"Conscience and the Constitution", Art Hansen, Books on Japanese America, Events, Manzanar, Manzanar Riot, News, Reviews

REVIEW: “A Capstone Collection from a Beloved Historian”

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Art Hansen
Photo by David Toshiyuki
audience watching Art
Photo by David Toshiyuki

“A Celebration of Art Hansen” was the centerpiece of the first-ever Nichi Bei Book Fest in San Francisco Japantown on July 27. Art and wife Debbie caught Covid from a cruise the week before so had to join us by Zoom in the Koho Co-Creative Space in the Peace Plaza, but it was still a celebratory event with stories told, tributes made, and city proclamations presented.  Continue reading REVIEW: “A Capstone Collection from a Beloved Historian” →

"We Hereby Refuse", Hiroshi Kashiwagi, Jim Akutsu, Mitsuye Endo

INTERVIEW: Turning history into a graphic novel

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book coverJonathan Sandler of London has written a graphic memoir about his Yorkshire grandfather’s WW2 service in the U.S. Army, The English GI. He also blogs at graphicmemoir.co.uk and from across the ocean discovered our work with We Hereby Refuse.

Jonathan sent over some thoughtful questions about the process of turning history from one’s personal heritage into a graphic novel. It took me several months to reply, but here finally are my answers.
Continue reading INTERVIEW: Turning history into a graphic novel →

The history and literature of Japanese American resistance to wartime incarceration