"Evacuation"
As we boarded the bus
bags on both sides
(I had never packed two bags before
on a vacation
lasting forever)
the Seattle Times
photographer said
Smile!
So obediently I smiled
and the caption the next day
read:
Note smiling faces
a lesson to Tokyo.
- Camp Notes (Pg.13)
Mitsuye Yamada is considered a remarkable and courageous Asian American poet. She is a writer, whose personal emotional evocative rendering of her experiences as a prisoner in a Japanese American detainment camp during World War II contributed to her reputation in late 20th century America. Her poems mainly focus on racial discrimination and multicultural identities. Her earliest and most famous works should be the “Camp Notes” section, which detail the daily degradation of concentration camp life, and the hardship of discrimination faced by ethnic minorities.
In “Evacuation”, Yamada was told to “smile” (line 9) for a photographer. She described her reaction as obedient to smile. Afterwards, the caption the next day read that “Note smiling faces/ a lesson to Tokyo” (line 13-14). First of all, by reading this part, I think the poem capture the experience of internees, like Yamada, as subordinate, or even to say criminal. Here, for better understand this poem, I want to refer one paragraph of “All-out Victory” from “Only what we could carry”, the Japanese American Internment Experience introduction. It said that, “We have lived long enough in America to appreciate liberty and justice. … and we have the courage of our convictions to back up our words with deeds of loyalty to the United States government!” By reading this, I strongly believe that those Japanese American Internees love their country of the U.S. However, because of their ancestral country and their similar in facial characteristics to the enemies, the American government ruthlessly neglected of their patriotism and regard them as prisoner. Yamada described her reaction as obedient because including herself; all of the internees had been all forever traded without respect. It also reflects that the experience of internees were tough and never free.
Additionally, the newspaper runs the photo with a caption reading “note smiling faces/ a lesson to Tokyo” (line 13-14) seems to show off their victory of carrying out “Executive Order 9066”, which authorized the “relocation of Americans of Japanese descent. ” However, at the same time, Yamada accented of her smile might also mean that she despised the treatment from the US government to the internees.
"A young evacuee of Japanese ancestry waits with the family baggage before leaving by bus for an assembly center in the spring of 1942." by Clem Albers, California, April 1942.
By publishing Camp Notes and Other Poems, Yamada wanted to increase the public awareness of discriminatory treatment suffered by Japanese Americans during World War II and in the ensuing decades. And after doing online research, I’m happy to notify that since “Camp Notes and Other Poems” first released, it generally elicited critical praise for both its culturally significant content, and for Yamada’s adept balance of personal source material with her poetic evocation of emotion.
Writing poems is Yamada’s weapon, and she evoked people to be against of the racial discrimination to they Japanese-American. It was a battle. However, there was no fire, no smoke, but Yamada’s poems.
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However...U.S. Closes Final WWII Internment Camp
Chao: That satirical video is funny! I do want to point out that it IS a satire--a joke meant to make a political or social point--just in case other students aren't familiar with The Onion (http://www.theonion.com/). :)
ReplyDeleteJapanese immigrants in the United States of immigrants than other countries is not strong, or worse. Because Japan was the enemy of the United States, the Pacific war on the United States can cause great harm. Attack on Pearl Harbor, more difficult. Therefore, not only by the cold of these Japanese immigrants, marginalized, and even bullying, hostility. Immigration policy in Japan is discriminatory. However, the survival of the Japanese stubbornly down, settled, married and prospered.
ReplyDeleteBushido spirit, like a belief in the Second World War, a symbol of loyalty to the emperor that the spirit of Bushido, all actions obey the command of the Emperor. This is somewhat similar to the feudal society. Today, the spirit of Bushido have derived meaning, he became a brave, strong, serious synonymous.
A survey of people on walking speed in the city, Tokyo, Japan, the fastest man walking. Because they are under great pressure, high prices, long working hours, leave less. The spirit of Bushido, in their bones, they like the Japanese immigrants in the United States, as in the powerful silent until the day broke out.