Category Archives: Hiroshi Kashiwagi

"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 Registry", "We Hereby Refuse", Day of Remembrance, Events, Fair Play Committee, Heart Mountain, Hiroshi Kashiwagi, John Okada, Michi Weglyn, MIS, News, Redress

National Day of Remembrance tops February events

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As the month for the annual Day of Remembrance, February is always the busiest time of year for speaking requests. This year being the 80th anniversary of EO 9066, A friend counted 33 DOR events nationwide. I have nine on the books myself, a personal record, including four on February 19th.
Continue reading National Day of Remembrance tops February events →

"Conscience and the Constitution", "John Okada:" the book, "No-No Boy", "We Hereby Refuse", Frank Emi, Hiroshi Kashiwagi, Immigration detention, Interviews, Jim Akutsu, John Okada, Michi Weglyn, Mitsuye Endo, News, Nisei draft resisters, Roger Daniels

The North American Post interview

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In Seattle, the North American Post is the successor to the prewar Hokubei Jiji newspaper that Fuyo Tanagi helped edit, before she wrote the letter protesting the drafting of Nisei boys from camp for the Mothers Society of Minidoka. So it is an honor to be interviewed by Elaine Ikoma Ko in this wide-ranging exchange on No-No Boy, John Okada and We Hereby Refuse for the cover of the current issue of the Post.

Read the interview in the North American Post here.
Continue reading The North American Post interview →

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

The descendants of “WE HEREBY REFUSE”

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Our graphic novel We Hereby Refuse weaves together the stories of three Nisei who refused to submit to imprisonment in American concentration camps without a fight. On Sept. 18 we got to meet three of  their children and hear what they think about the book.

Continue reading The descendants of “WE HEREBY REFUSE” →

"We Hereby Refuse", #Resistance, Hiroshi Kashiwagi, Jim Akutsu, Mitsuye Endo, News

“Western Washington Gets Real” about “WE HEREBY REFUSE”

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It’s not often a book gets four minutes of TV coverage, so check out this feature that aired tonight on KIRO7 News in Seattle by clicking on the image.

KIRO-TV news set Continue reading “Western Washington Gets Real” about “WE HEREBY REFUSE” →

"We Hereby Refuse", Hiroshi Kashiwagi, Interviews, Jim Akutsu, Mitsuye Endo, News, Tule Lake

YouTube preview of forthcoming graphic novel, “We Hereby Refuse”

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“Three voices …  Three acts of defiance …  One mass injustice.” That’s one of the taglines for our forthcoming graphic novel which presents an original vision of America’s past with disturbing links to the American present. We had a fast-moving conversation about it on Black Friday, with a special look inside the 3-D modeling by  one of our two artists, Ross Ishikawa, to recreate key scenes based on  historical reality.

Here’s the one-hour JAMP YouTube channel event moderated by Erin Aoyama,  to get you ready for publication on February 9, 2021.

Continue reading YouTube preview of forthcoming graphic novel, “We Hereby Refuse” →

"We Hereby Refuse", Hiroshi Kashiwagi, News, No-no boys, Obituaries, Tule Lake

In Memoriam: Hiroshi Kashiwagi — poet, playwright, no-no, and renunciant

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Hiroshi with Frank AbeHiroshi Kashiwagi once confided that when he was young he felt his real calling was as an actor. He had the soul of a poet, modest and soft-spoken, until he got on stage. Then he could command a voice that was measured and determined, almost Shakespearean in tone. He held a strong sense of right and wrong, and pushed himself to write and to study public speaking in order to be heard. Continue reading In Memoriam: Hiroshi Kashiwagi — poet, playwright, no-no, and renunciant →

"John Okada:" the book, "No-No Boy", Hiroshi Kashiwagi, John Okada, News, No-no boys

“NO-NO BOY” and “JOHN OKADA” in NY Times and American Book Awards

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You’d never expect John Okada and the entire literature of Japanese American incarceration to be featured in the Style magazine of the New York Times … but thanks to the passionate interest of Thessaly La Force, features director for T: The New York Times Style Magazine, her deeply felt essay is now online. It will appear in print in the Sunday Times edition on November 17th.T: The New York Times Style Magazine

Many thanks to Thessaly for reaching out to Shawn Wong and myself to learn more about this history, and the life and work of John Okada in particular. The literature of Japanese American incarceration is a field that JOHN OKADA co-editor Floyd Cheung and I are researching for a new anthology scheduled for 2021.

Floyd was not present, but Greg Robinson and I were, when our volume on John Okada was honored Friday with an American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation.

American Book Award recipients onstage

Here are my prepared remarks for the acceptance: Continue reading “NO-NO BOY” and “JOHN OKADA” in NY Times and American Book Awards →