Japanese Internment

No-No Boy by John Okada

Image Source: http://www.uiowa.edu/%7Egelit/
books/nono.html

In 1957, John Okada wrote his first and only book called No-No Boy. It is ironic that a man who fought for the United States during the war wrote a book about no-no boys years after. The Japanese community immediately rejected this book because the memories of internment were still vivid. It hit too close to home for their comfort level based on their experiences from World War II. Okada went throughout the rest of his life assuming that his own people and his local community rejected him and his book. Japanese bookstores refused to sell the novel. It is even more ironic how this book was only made acceptable by society and as a remarkable work of literature after he died in 1971.

The fictional story starts with the return of the main character, Ichiro, who was imprisoned for refusing to enlist in the draft. He returns to Seattle and must adjust back to a normal life thinking that he does not have an identity anymore. He sacrificed both his Japanese and American identity in order to please his mother’s wishes. Ichiro took his pro-Japan mother’s advice to resist the draft, who believed that Japan was going to win the war. Ichiro continues to struggle with this conflict of being Japanese and American throughout the novel. Okada had a talent of portraying the personal struggle of each character. Each character Ichiro meets influences him and he ultmately heals the inner pain and conflict he feels about being a no-no boy. Okada was skilled in portraying difficult and complex emotions of this time period.

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