Exotic travels, hometown tragedies: Two new books tell thrilling historical tales about Japanese Americans

Published 1:51 pm Thursday, May 14, 2015

From out of the past emerge two true tales to teach modern audiences important lessons about education, culture and forgiveness through actual historical events surrounding the adventures, ordeals and accomplishments of Japanese Americans in two very different eras of America.

Renowned journalist Richard Reeves’ “Infamy: The Shocking Story of the Japanese-American Interment in World War II,” is about subject matter familiar to Bainbridge Islanders, though it takes a broader and more historical view of the notorious treatment of Japanese Americans in the wake of Pearl Harbor hysteria, and Janice P. Nimura’s “Daughters of the Samurai” relates the story of five young Japanese girls sent by their government to the United States to learn Western ways and return to help nurture a new generation of enlightened men to lead Japan.

Both authors will visit Eagle Harbor Book Company this week to discuss their books.

First, Reeves at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 14, and then Nimura at 5:30 p.m. Friday, May 15 will visit the downtown Winslow shop.

Both stories are historically important as well as timely, tackling as they do such contemporary issues as patriotism, xenophobia and the limits of government.

Both events are free, though seating is limited.

In a story that obviously resonates on Bainbridge Island, Reeves (a former chief correspondent for PBS’s “Frontline” who was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Society of Newspaper Columnists) interviewed survivors and plumbed letters, memoirs and historical archives to document the internment of more than 120,000 Japanese Americans and Japanese aliens residing in the United States during World War II.

In addition, he clarifies the causes of the xenophobia and vengefulness of people at that time, which touched even highly regarded individuals like Earl Warren, Edward R. Murrow, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt himself, while also showing that many people were openly opposed to the action.

Reeves is also the author of “President Reagan: The Triumph of Imagination,” “President Nixon: Alone in the White House,” “President Kennedy: Profile of Power,” What The People Know: Freedom and the Press” and “Running in Place: How Bill Clinton Disappointed America.”

A moving community conversation is expected.

The events recorded in “Daughters of the Samurai” go back a little further into American history.

In 1871, five young girls were sent by the Japanese government to the United States to learn Western ways and return to help nurture a new generation of leaders.

Raised in traditional samurai households during the turmoil of civil war, three of these unusual ambassadors — Sutematsu Yamakawa, Shige Nagai and Ume Tsuda — grew up as typical American schoolgirls.

Upon their arrival in San Francisco, they became celebrities. Their travels and traditional clothing was exclaimed over by newspapers across the nation. As they learned English and Western customs, their American friends grew to love them for their high spirits and intellectual brilliance.

The passionate relationships they formed reveal an intimate world of cross-cultural fascination and connection.

Ten years later, they returned to Japan — a land grown foreign to them — determined to revolutionize women’s education.

Based on in-depth archival research in Japan and in the United States, including decades of letters between the three women and their American host families, the story is a fascinating lens through which to view an extraordinary historical moment.

Two years after graduating from Yale, Nimura moved from her native Manhattan to her new husband’s native Tokyo.

Over the course of three years in Japan, she worked as an editor and wrote for English-language newspapers. Upon returning to New York she earned a master’s degree in East Asian studies at Columbia with a focus on 19th-century Japanese history, and continued to work as an editor and writer, contributing book reviews to newspapers including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune and Newsday.

Visit www.eagleharborbooks.com to learn more about these and other upcoming author events.

The shop is located at 157 Winslow Way East; call 206-842-5332 for more information.

Two upcoming author visits

What: Meet the authors of two new historical tales about Japanese Americans: “Daughters of the Samurai” by Janice P. Nimura and “Infamy: The Shocking Story of the Japanese-American Interment in World War II” by Richard Reeves.

When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 14 and 5:30 p.m. Friday, May 15.

Where: Eagle Harbor Book Company (157 Winslow Way East).

Admission: Free.