Bay City News Service

CONCORD, Calif. — The father of an 11-month-old boy who died in Concord on July 25 after being trapped in the family minivan was released from custody the day after because no charges are being filed against him, according to Concord police Lt. David Chilimidos.

By TAKEHIKO KAJITA
Kyodo News

WASHINGTON (Kyodo) — The U.S. House of Representatives approved a resolution Monday demanding an apology from Japan over its military’s sexual enslavement of young women in Asia during World War II, despite Tokyo’s warnings that it would harm otherwise sound Japan-U.S. relations.

By ALEC YOSHIO MacDONALD
Nichi Bei Times Contributor

BERKELEY — On a recent Monday afternoon, a small crowd gathered in the East Bay to take a trip back in time.

Squeezing into a spare room at Berkeley Methodist United Church on July 23, the few dozen people in attendance sought a glimpse of the world as it stood decades ago.

In this Nichi Bei Times exclusive series, Dr. Greg Robinson, author of "By the Order of the President: FDR and the Internment of Japanese Americans," examines little-known but prominent figures in Japanese American history.

By GREG ROBINSON
Nichi Bei Times Contributor

Today, when all sorts of astronomical estimates are thrown around on intermarriage rates among Japanese Americans — 70 percent, 80 percent, or more — it is curious to reflect that not so long ago, white-Asian intermarriage was illegal in many places, stigmatized in more, and almost everywhere rare enough that those of mixed parentage became objects of curiosity and scrutiny.

The Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) announced that pioneer Asian American journalist Sam Chu Lin will posthumously receive its Lifetime Achievement Award on Aug. 4 at the organization’s 19^th annual convention at the Hyatt Regency Miami.

By TOMO HIRAI
Nichi Bei Times

The Japanese government, in conjunction with the Hiroshima Prefectural Medical Association, the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as well as the San Francisco Medical Association and Saint Mary’s Medical Center, recently conducted its 16^th biennial examination of hibakusha, or atomic-bomb survivors.

By CYNTHIA HORIGUCHI
Nichi Bei Times Contributor

The Bay Area is not necessarily lacking in Japanese restaurants, but as Sumika owner Kuniko Ozawa pointed out, "There are no Japanese restaurants in Japan."

Nisei Linguists: Japanese Americans in the Military Intelligence Service during World War II.

By James C. McNaughton. (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Army Center of Military History, 2007, 530 pp., $29.00, paperback)

Reviewed By WAYNE MAEDA
Nichi Bei Times Contributor

The first thing one notices when picking up McNaughton’s book is the weight. There is good reason why this paperback book is so weighty. While it is often said that anyone can write a history book, McNaughton not only writes history but he is also a historian.

The Columbia Guide to Asian American Literature Since 1945

By Guiyou Huang (New York: Columbia University Press, July 2006, 264 pp., $45 cloth)

Reviewed By
KERRY KUMABE
Nichi Bei Times Contributor

Students of Asian American literature, rejoice! Columbia University Press presents "The Columbia Guide to Asian American Literature Since 1945," an excellent resource for those who seek a brief overview of the Asian American literary "canon," or those desirous of gaining a little historical perspective.

Dandelion Through the Crack: The Sato Family Quest for the American Dream

By Kiyo Sato (Nevada City: Willow Valley Press, August 2007, 412 pp., $29.95, hardcover)

Reviewed By WAYNE MAEDA
Nichi Bei Times Contributor

"Dandelion" is being released as you read this review of Kiyo Sato’s first attempt at writing a book. The title comes from a haiku poem written by her father: "Dandelion, How long have you been stepped upon? Today you bloom."

Astro Boy Essays: Osamu Tezuka, Mighty Atom, and the Manga/Anime Revolution

By Frederik L. Schodt (Berkeley: Stone Bridge Press, July 2007. 215 pp., $16.95 paperback)

Reviewed by BEN HAMAMOTO
Nichi Bei Times

"The Astro Boy Essays: Osamu Tezuka, Mighty Atom, and the Manga/Anime Revolution" is a rare sort of book that can appeal to both a very specific and a very broad audience. For die-hard fans of Astro Boy and his creator Osamu Tezuka, there is plenty of new and exclusive content, but for those who don’t know anything about Astro Boy, and maybe never thought they wanted to, it can serve as an introduction to a medium that is vastly underappreciated in the United States.

A History of Asian American Theatre

By Esther Kim Lee (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, October 2006, 282 pp., $90.00, hardcover)

Reviewed By
TIM YAMAMURA
Nichi Bei Times Contributor

In "A History of Asian American Theatre," Esther Kim Lee clears much ground in her well-researched and lucid narrative on the origins and evolutions of Asian American theater, a tradition that has served as a central site of articulation and contestation of what it means to be Asian in America and beyond.

Sessue Hayakawa: Silent Cinema and Transnational Stardom

By Daisuke Miyao (Durham: Duke Univ. Press, March 2007, 379 pp,, $23.95 paperback)

By DAVID COZY
Asahi Shimbun

Today, the notion that an actor who is neither white nor from an Anglophone country might be a top Hollywood star can only be seen as fantastic. In the early part of the last century, however, Cecil B. DeMille maintained that Sessue Hayakawa (1899-1973), born and raised in Chiba Prefecture, was "the peer of such bright stars as Douglas Fairbanks, William S. Hart and Mary Pickford," and the eminent director seems to have been right

Combat Chaplain: The Personal Story of the World War II Chaplain of the Japanese American 100th Battalion

By Israel A.S. Yost Edited by Monica E. Yost and Michael Markrich (Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, September 2006, 308 pp., $24.95 paperback)

Reviewed by TOMO HIRAI
Nichi Bei Times

There is no other battalion of its kind that would receive as many decorations and honors as the 100th Battalion. The unit was composed mostly of Japanese-Americans save for a number of Caucasian officers. This book is the memoirs of one of the white officer’s observations from his post as a combat infantry chaplain.

By TWILA TOMITA
Nichi Bei Times Columnist

WHO’S HIDING?

By Satoru Onishi. (La Jolla, CA: Kane/Miller Book Publishers, Inc., 2007, 32 pp; $14.95 hardback).

Cuddle up in a comfortable armchair with your preschooler and read this book. Nine brightly colored animals greet you on every page. Mix the attraction of "Where’s Waldo?" with "I Spy," simplify it, and you have the concept behind "Who’s Hiding?" by Satoru Onishi.

Samurai of Gold Hill

By Yoshiko Uchida (Berkeley: HeyDay Books, Aug 2005, 128 pp., $8.95 paperback)

Reviewed By KERRY KUMABE
Nichi Bei Times Contributor

Berkeley publisher HeyDay Books presents a new edition of author Yoshiko Uchida’s children’s book, "Samurai of Gold Hill," first published in 1972. Those who loved Uchida’s memorable "Journey to Topaz" when young, but never got a chance to read "Samurai of Gold Hill," will enjoy introducing their children to her historical fiction.