Yankee Samurai

Book excerpt: Author Joseph D. Harrington has written an informative and insightful history of the Nisei (Second-generation Japanese Americans), working for the U.S. armed forces in the Pacific during World War II. This is no whitewashed narrative, as it exposes U.S. internment camps, prejudices, and the frustrations of patriotic Japanese-Americans who wanted to fight for their country, but were initially rebuffed. As the book relates, not all Nisei were in favor of fighting, and even those that did encountered another kind of prejudice at first, from Hawaiian-born Nisei who more than occasionally felt that continental Japanese-Americans just didn't measure up, linguistically-speaking. Like other children of immigrants, the Nisei were, to a large extent, caught between Japanese tradition and U.S. culture. The concept of honor, an essential element in Japanese-American family life, ended up serving U.S. military interests well. The author has done an outstanding job of uncovering names and telling little-known stories. Especially fascinating are the ones that describe the analytical acumen of Nisei translators.