JAPANESE AMERICANS WWII GRAPHIC NOVELS BOOK SIGNINGS
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 18 | PROGRAM 3-4PM PDT | BOOK SIGNINGS AT 2PM & 4PM | FREE & IN-PERSON
Learn about Japanese American World War II history through three graphic novels geared for youth and up, including Fighting for America: Nisei Soldiers; We Hereby Refuse: Japanese American Resistance to Wartime Incarceration; and Those Who Helped Us: Assisting Japanese Americans During the War.
This event commemorates the Day of Remembrance, marking Feb. 19, 1942, when Executive Order 9066 was signed to authorize the incarceration of over 100,000 community members of Japanese ancestry on the West Coast.
2-3 PM BOOK SIGNING:
Lawrence Matsuda, author of Fighting for America: Nisei Soldiers
2-3 PM & 4-5 PM BOOK SIGNINGS:
Frank Abe, author of We Hereby Refuse: Japanese American Resistance to Wartime Incarceration
Ross Ishikawa, illustrator for We Hereby Refuse: Japanese American Resistance to Wartime Incarceration
Ken Mochizuki, author of Those Who Helped Us: Assisting Japanese Americans During the War
(4-5pm only) Kiku Hughes, illustrator for Those Who Helped Us: Assisting Japanese Americans During the War
We Hereby Refuse and Those Who Helped Us can be purchased in-person, online, and over the phone through Marketplace. Members save 10% on their Marketplace purchases, 20% if joining or renewing. Does not combine with other discounts or apply to previous purchases. At this time Fighting for America: Nisei Soldiers is estimated to arrive end of Summer 2023.
All graphic novels are co-published by Wing Luke Museum and Chin Music Press. Reissue of Fighting for America funded by the Kip Tokuda Memorial Washington Civil Liberties Public Education Program.
More information on the Graphic Novels:
· Fighting for America: Nisei Solders by Lawrence Matsuda and illustrated by Matt Sasaki, produced with the Nisei Veterans Committee Foundation in 2015, reissue funded by the Kip Tokuda Memorial Washington Civil Liberties Public Education Program. This graphic novel is based on the actual events of six courageous Japanese American WWII soldiers from the Pacific Northwest who proved their loyalty and made a significant mark in American history. The Nisei featured include Shiro Kashino (442 RCT), Frank Nishimura (442 RCT), Jimmie Kanaya (442 RCT medic), Roy Matsumoto (MIS), Tosh Yasutake (442 RCT medic), and Teruyuki “Turk” Suzuki (442 RCT).
· We Hereby Refuse: Japanese American Resistance to Wartime Incarceration by Frank Abe and Tamiko Nimura and illustrated by Ross Ishikawa and Matt Sasaki preserves acts of resistance through the stories of the Akutsu brothers, Hiroshi Kashiwagi and Mitsuye Endo.
· Those Who Helped Us: Assisting Japanese Americans During the War written by Ken Mochizuki and illustrated by Kiku Hughes features the supportive actions of Seattle area citizens, including Rev. Emery Andrews, neighbor Felix Narte, Bailey Gatzert Elementary School Principal Ada Mahon and more.
The graphic novels were funded, in part, by a grant from the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Japanese American Confinement Sites Grant Program.