The Unknown Great
Description
An astounding new set of biographical portraits in Japanese American history
Through stories of remarkable people in Japanese American history, The Unknown Great illuminates the diversity of the Nikkei experience from the turn of the twentieth century to the present day. Acclaimed historian and journalist Greg Robinson delves into a range of themes from race and interracial relationships to sexuality, faith, and national identity. In accessible short essays drawn primarily from his newspaper columns, Robinson examines the longstanding interactions between African Americans and Japanese Americans, the history of LGBTQ+ Japanese Americans, religion in Japanese American life, mixed-race performers and political figures, and more. This collection is sure to entertain and inform readers, bringing fresh perspectives and unfamiliar stories from Japanese American history and centering the lives of unheralded figures who left their mark on American life.
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Greg Robinson is professor of history at l'Université du Québec à Montréal and author of several books, including The Unsung Great: Stories of Extraordinary Japanese Americans and After Camp: Portraits in Midcentury Japanese American Life. Jonathan van Harmelen is a PhD candidate in history at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Content
- Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Contents
- Introduction / Reshaping Japanese American History
- A Note from Jonathan van Harmelen
- Chapter 1. African American Allies
- Erna P. Harris / Champion of Equality
- Japanese Americans and the Macbeth Legacy
- Seeking Will Thomas / A Friend of the Nisei
- Howard Thurman and Japanese Americans / Toward the Blessed Community with Peter Eisenstadt
- Chapter 2. Japanese Americans and Interracialism
- From Kenny Murase to Kenji Murase / The Journey of a Nisei Writer, Scholar, and Activist
- Mari Sabusawa Michener / Champion of Civil Rights and Supporter of the Arts
- Way Down in Egypt Land / Tamio Wakayama, Civil Rights Photographer
- Paul Takagi / A Fearless Advocate
- Toshi Ohta Seeger / The Power behind the Music
- Chapter 3. Japanese Americans and African Americans
- Stepping Over the Color Line / Nikkei at Historically Black Colleges and Universities
- African American Scratches on a Nikkei Canvas / Black Characters in Japanese American Literature with Brian Niiya
- The Japanese American Press and the History of the N-Word with Jonathan van Harmelen
- Chapter 4. The Queer Heritage of Japanese Americans
- K. T. Takahashi / Transnational Writer and Activist
- Not Just A Single Man / Christopher Isherwood's Nisei Connections
- Tondemonai / Recovering a Groundbreaking Asian American Play
- Randy Kikukawa and 1980s Asian American Gay Activism
- The JACL's Shift to Support for LGBTQ+ Equality
- Chapter 5. In Good Faith
- Laying Down the Law of Love / The 1936 American Tour of Dr. Toyohiko Kagawa with Bo Tao
- Hisaye Yamamoto and the Catholic Worker Movement with Matthieu Langlois
- The Undiscovered History of Japanese Americans and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with Christian Heimburger
- Nikkei and the Peace Churches / Mennonites and Brethren with Zacharie Leclair
- Chapter 6. Mixed-Race Stories
- Kinjiro Matsudaira / Mayor of Edmonston, Maryland with Jonathan van Harmelen
- Bernard Spencer Miyaguchi / Ice Skater Extraordinaire
- Edith deBecker Sebald / Diplomat
- The Enigma of Marion Saki
- Ruth Sato Reinhardt / From Chorus Girl to Jazz Momma
- Chapter 7. Music
- Yoichi Hiraoka / Issei Xylophone Virtuoso with Jonathan van Harmelen
- Classical Music in the WRA Camps with Jonathan van Harmelen
- Akira Kikukawa and the Japanese American Orchestra with Jonathan van Harmelen
- Juilliard-Trained Songbird Mariko Mukai Ando Defied Expectations with Jonathan van Harmelen
- Nisei Singer and Civil Rights Activist Ruby Hideko Yoshino with Jonathan van Harmelen
- Chapter 8. Literature and Journalism
- T. John Fujii / Collaborator or Cosmopolitan?
- Bunji Omura / New York Japanese Antifascist Writer and Publicist with Jonathan van Harmelen
- Iwao Kawakami's Intriguing Elegy for Topaz
- Eddie Shimano and Gerald Chan Sieg with James Sun
- Florence Crannell Means / The Woman behind The Moved-Outers
- Ayako Ishigaki / Radical Issei Feminist Writer in 1930s America
- Chapter 9. The European Nikkei Community
- The French (Nikkei) Connection / Japanese Americans in Midcentury Paris
- Kikou Yamata / Rediscovering the First Nisei Writer
- Agnes Miyakawa / The Toast of Paris
- Toshiko Hasegawa / A Nisei at La Scala
- Pioneering Nisei Soprano Tomiko (Tomi) Kanazawa
- Foujita Discovers the Americas / An Artist's Tour with Seth Jacobowitz
- Epilogue
- Acknowledgments
- Notes
- Selected Bibliography
- Credits
- Index
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
- O
- P
- Q
- R
- S
- T
- U
- V
- W
- Y
- Series Page
- Back Cover
