No-No Boy John Okada

No-No Boy is a 1957 novel, and the only novel published by the Japanese American writer John Okada. It tells the story of a Japanese-American in the aftermath of the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. Set in Seattle, Washington, in 1946, the novel is written in the voice of an omniscient narrator who frequently blends into the voice of the protagonist.

On 7 December 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, a U.S. naval base near Honolulu, Hawaii. The following day, December 8, the United States declared war on Japan. Many Americans rushed to join the military. After Pearl Harbor, all citizens of Japanese ancestry had been classified 4-C, "enemy aliens", and denied entry into the armed forces. In spring 1942, the government began removing Japanese and Japanese American families from their homes and sending them to live in remote internment camps. As the war continued, the need for more soldiers increased.

In 1943, the War Department, along with the War Relocation Authority (WRA) created a bureaucratic means of testing the loyalty of all adults and teens in the WRA camps known as the "Leave Clearance Application Form," also known as the loyalty questionnaire. The first form was aimed at draft-age Nisei males and the second form at all other residents. The last two questions, numbers 27 and 28 - where affirmative answers signaled unwavering loyalty to the U.S. - created confusion and resentment. As a matter of principle or for various reasons, many respondents answered "no" to questions 27 and 28 and became known as "no-no boys".

The two questions read as follows:

• "Are you willing to serve in the armed forces of the United States on combat duty wherever ordered?"
• "Will you swear unqualified allegiance to the United States of America and faithfully defend the United States from any or all attack by foreign or domestic forces, and forswear any form of allegiance or obedience to the Japanese emperor, to any other foreign government, power or organization?"

Both questions were confusing to many respondents. Regarding the first, some respondents thought that by answering yes, they were signing up for combat duty in segregated units, expected to fight while their families continued to be confined in the camps. Others, given their forced removal and incarceration, said no to resist the draft because their constitutional rights were being violated. To many respondents, most of whom were American citizens, the second question implied that the respondent had already sworn allegiance to the Japanese emperor. They saw the second question as a trap, and rejected the premise by answering no. Afterwards, all who answered "no" to one or both questions, or who gave an affirmative answer but qualified it with statements like "I'll serve in the military after my family is freed", were sent to the Tule Lake Segregation Center.[1] Approximately 300 young men served time in federal prison for refusing to join the military from camp.[2]

The basic plot is not autobiographical. Okada, a Seattleite like his protagonist, served in the U.S. military himself. The novel was published in 1957 and remained obscure until much later. He died in 1971, at age 47.[3] A few years later, two young Asian-American men heard of Okada and his novel, and resolved to revive interest in it. With the co-operation of Okada's widow, they had it republished in 1976, with a second printing in 1977. Since then, it has become a staple of college assigned reading.

In 1946, Japanese-American Ichiro Yamada returns home to Seattle after spending two years in prison for refusing to enlist in the army. While he answered "No" to both questions and refused to serve, he feels disconnected from his Japanese heritage and struggles to identify with America.

Ichiro’s mother, referred to only as Mama, is a staunch nationalist who takes pride in Ichiro’s refusal to serve. She insists that Japan has won the war and believes any reports to the contrary are American propaganda. His father, Papa, retreats into alcoholism to avoid confronting his wife; he is especially troubled by her refusal to send any supplies to their family in Japan, believing that all their letters are forgeries. After leaving their internment camp, the two purchased a grocery store where they now live and work. Meanwhile, Ichiro’s brother, Taro, intends to enlist in the army out of shame for his brother’s actions.

Ichiro rekindles friendships with Freddie, a Japanese American who similarly refused to serve, and Kenji, who fought for the US. Wounded in the war, Kenji suffers from a severe infection in his leg that has already led to several amputations. He predicts that the remainder of his leg will rot and kill him. The two go to Club Oriental, a bar owned and patronized by Asian Americans. Taro lures Ichiro outside where his friends ambush him, striking him and shouting racist abuse. Kenji intervenes to protect Ichiro.

Kenji introduces Ichiro to Emi, a fellow Japanese American. During the war, Kenji served alongside her husband who later re-enlisted out of shame for his brother’s decision to remain loyal to Japan. Kenji wants Ichiro to sleep with Emi, believing that it would be best for her and her husband to divorce.

A letter arrives from Mama’s sister containing several secrets from their childhood. Now realizing the letters must be real and that Japan has lost the war, she falls into a deep depression, refusing to eat and struggling to work.

Kenji, feeling pain returning to his leg, must go to Portland for surgery and asks Ichiro to accompany him. Once there, Ichiro considers the possibility of staying in Portland. While looking for a job, he meets an engineer named Mr. Carrick who offers him the job on the spot out of sympathy. Still struggling with shame, Ichiro decides not to take the job.

The next day, Ichiro sneaks into the hospital before visiting hours to visit Kenji. With the infection now incurable and rapidly progressing, he only has a few hours to live. Before he dies, he intends to write a letter to Emi’s husband accusing her of infidelity in hopes that it will drive him to either divorce her or return home. Kenji urges Ichiro to return to Seattle and help break down the boundaries of race in America.

Returning to Seattle, Ichiro informs Kenji’s father of his death before returning home. There, he finds that Mama has committed suicide while Papa has passed out drunk. In the ensuing days, Ichiro notes that Papa enjoys the attention he receives throughout the funeral; frustrated, he skips much of the proceedings.

Emi comes to Seattle to give her condolences to Ichiro. Her husband send her a letter stating his intent to divorce her, though she never learned what Kenji wrote to him.The two go out dancing; when Ichiro returns home, his father is preparing packages to send to his family in Japan.

Ichiro finds another job opportunity but declines it. Freddie invites Ichiro to join him for a night out. Despite Ichiro’s protestations, Freddie takes the two to a club patronized by many Japanese American veterans. The two fight an antagonizing veteran, nicknamed Bull. After getting the upper hand, Ichiro nearly kills Bull before being pulled off by other patrons. Freddie flees in his car only to quickly crash and die. Bull begins to cry as Ichiro comforts him; reflecting on the episodes of tragedy and discrimination he had encountered, Ichiro feels a faint sense of hope for the future.

Following a string of rejections by American publishers, the Japanese publisher Charles E. Tuttle published an original run of 1,500 copies in 1957, which still had not sold out by the time Okada died in 1971. The initial response within the Japanese community was similar to that faced by the book's protagonist: ostracism for drawing attention to what was still perceived as disloyalty to the country and community.[4]

Found in a used book store by Jeff Chan in 1970, he and fellow Asian-American writers Frank Chin, Lawson Fusao Inada and Shawn Wong reached out to the Okada estate to first try and meet with John Okada, then when they discovered that he had died, to acquire the rights to reissue the book under their Combined Asian-American Resources Project (CARP) label in 1976. CARP sold out two printings of 3,000 copies each before transferring the rights in 1979 to University of Washington Press. University of Washington Press has since sold over 157,000 copies of the book (as of 2019), including its most recent edition in 2014.[5]

Penguin Random House published an edition of the novel in 2019, claiming that it was in the public domain and was never registered for copyright protection, sparking a controversy within the literary community for its failure to consult with the Okada estate and disregarding the struggle Okada and CARP had in attempting to publish the work.[6] It has been asserted that when No-No Boy was first published in 1957, the Copyright Act of 1909 applied, which granted book authors 28 years of protection unless renewed by the copyright holder, for which CARP and the Okada estate failed to correctly apply.[7] Both the UW Press and the Penguin editions remain in circulation, although Penguin has since withdrawn any advertising in regards to its printing and has removed mention of the book from its webpage.[8]

The novel was adapted as a stage play, also called No-No Boy, by Ken Narasaki. The play had its world premiere on 26 March 2010, at the Miles Memorial Playhouse in Santa Monica, California.[9]

1. ^ Cherstin Lyon, "Loyalty questionnaire", Densho Encyclopedia, 19 March 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2014.
2. ^ Eric Muller, "Draft resistance", Densho Encyclopedia, 10 June 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2014.- Annie Nakao, "A Unique Tale of WWII Resistance: Japanese American Internees Refused Draft", San Francisco Chronicle, 26 October 2001. Retrieved 9 May 2014.
3. ^ La Force, Thessaly (November 4, 2019), "The Story of the Great Japanese-American Novel", The New York Times
4. ^ Schleitwiler, Vince (2019). "The legacy of 'No-No Boy'". University of Washington Magazine. Retrieved February 28, 2020.- Macdonald, Moira (June 16, 2019). "'No-No Boy' went from unknown book to classic thanks to UW Press and Asian American writers. Now, it's at the center of a controversy". The Seattle Times. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
5. ^ Schleitwiler, Vince (November 18, 2018). "The Bright Future and Long Shadow of John Okada's No-No Boy". Asian American Writers' Workshop. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
6. ^ Chin, Frank (1976). In Search of John Okada: Afterword to 'No-No Boy'. Combined Asian American Resource Project. ISBN 9780295955254.
7. ^ Fuchs, Chris (June 7, 2019). "Penguin Classics edition of Japanese American novel 'No-No Boy' sparks copyright dispute". NBC News. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
8. ^ No-No-Boy. OCLC. OCLC 881386427.
9. ^ "World Premiere of No-No Boy announced", Los Angeles Daily News online

• OCLC Worldcat reference to No-No Boy
• Brian Niiya, "No-no boys", Densho Encyclopedia.
• Official website of the play, No-No Boy adapted by Ken Narasaki
• Introduction to a conversation on John Okada’s No-No Boy