Book Review of Stubborn Twig
Three Generations in the Life of a Japanese-American Family
Mar 10, 2009
As European immigrants crossed the Atlantic to America, Japanese immigrants crossed the Pacific looking for opportunity on the West Coast of the United States.
Masuo Yasui left his native Japan in 1903, at the age of 16, to work on the railroads in the American West. Five years later he had saved enough money to settle in Hood River, Oregon, and open a store with his brother. The store, serving mostly Japanese immigrants, thrived. Soon Masuo owned 1,000 acres of the Hood River Valley’s fertile orchard land and had other business interests, as well. He became a leader in the valley’s Japanese community and a respected member of Hood River’s business community.
Masuo’s bride came from Japan to marry him and the two raised eight children who would become lawyers, doctors, business owners and farmers.
Stubborn Twig follows this family’s story for nearly 100 years, from Masuo’s arrival to the mid-1990s.
Prejudice and Internment
But the road to success in America passed through a wave of racial prejudice against the Japanese that intensified in the 1920s. Finally, on Dec. 7, 1941, when Pearl Harbor was bombed, all Japanese people living on the West Coast – adults and children alike -- were uprooted from their homes and sent to internment camps.
Masuo, deeply loyal to his adopted country, was arrested on suspicion of being a spy for Japan. Before he was finally released after the end of the War, he had lost most of what he had gained through a lifetime of hard work.
Inspiration and Heartbreak
Kessler’s detailed recounting of this family’s story is both inspiring and heartbreaking. To write the book, she sorted through endless documents left by Masuo and talked with surviving children and grandchildren.
For many Americans, especially outside the West Coast states, the story of Japanese internment is little known. Kessler brings this sad era of history to light in vivid prose, detailing how the events affected every member of the Yasui family.
Family Triumph
But this is also an American immigrant story. The Yasuis face language and cultural barriers and tragedy, yet they triumph over the difficulties and prejudices through hard work and determination. Masuo’s children went to college, followed successful careers and most became active in their communities.
One of Masuo’s sons, Min, graduated from law school shortly before the war, and became the first Japanese lawyer in Oregon. He is now remembered for challenging the war-era laws affecting Japanese-Americans. After the war, Min led the drive for reparations.
Kessler’s telling of Min’s long struggle as an activist is moving and brings the saga into to the contemporary age. But she’s not finished until she follows the current lives of the Yasui grandchildren. Though scattered after internment, Kessler notes that the family still maintains close bonds.
Stubborn Twig was chosen for the 2009 “Oregon Reads” program, in which residents statewide are encouraged to read the same book and participate in discussions and related events at their local libraries.
Book Details:
Stubborn Twig: Three Generations in the Life of a Japanese-American Family, by Lauren Kessler, Oregon State University Press, Corvallis, 2005.
 |
