Browse > Theme > Self-reliance
6 articles
Day of Independence (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Adult
- Drama
- Coming of age, Family - blessing or curse, Self-reliance
- Available
A 2003 short dramatic film about one Japanese American family's World War II experience in an American concentration camp, told through the narration of a young baseball player, whose life is traumatically altered by the forced removal and his father's decision to expatriate back to Japan. The screenplay is based on the real-life experiences of playwright and executive producer Tim Toyama's family and adapted from a play Toyama wrote entitled "Independence Day".
Ralph Story's Los Angeles: Little Tokyo (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Documentary
- Importance of community, Optimism – power or folly, Self-reliance, Social mobility
- No availability
Episode of the popular 1960s weekly television show featuring the Little Tokyo area of Los Angeles. Filmed largely in Little Tokyo, the program covers both the history of the neighborhood and its then current status and includes a discussion of the wartime incarceration of its population.
The Service Flags (short story)
- Short Stories
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Evils of racism, Heroism—real and perceived, Individual versus society, Loss of innocence, Self-reliance
- Widely available
Short story by Bill Hosokawa about the first days of resettlement of a young mother and her nine-year-old son. Helen Yamano and her son Jamie arrive in an unspecified city, and she hangs two flags, one for her brother who had been killed, presumably as an Military Intelligence Service linguist, and one for her husband, who is serving in Europe in the 442nd . Her first days on the job are difficult, as one of her co-workers makes trouble for her. Jamie is called a "Jap" by one of the boys on his first day of school. Helen tells him that like his father, he needs to fight to be accepted, and the next day he does.
An American History: Resettlement of Japanese Americans in Greater Cleveland (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Documentary
- Self-reliance, Injustice
- Available
Oral history-based documentary centering on Japanese Americans who resettled in Cleveland after leaving the concentration camps. Directed by Greg Petusky and Johnny Wu, the film was funded in part by a grant from the Japanese American Citizen's League's National Endowment Fund. It debuted at a screening at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History on April 8, 2000.
Journey to Washington (book)
- Books
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Memoir
- Self-reliance, Patriotism - positive side or complications, Empowerment
- Limited availability
Ghostwritten autobiography by Senator Daniel K. Inouye of Hawai'i, authored with Lawrence Elliott and published in 1967. One of the first autobiographies by a Nisei , Journey to Washington was published as Inouye was finishing his first term as a U.S. Senator from Hawai'i and preparing to run for reelection. The book covers his life up to that time, beginning with his grandfather leaving Japan to come to America to pay off a debt and ending with his father visiting the White House to visit President John. F. Kennedy. A success story that established a template for many Nisei memoirs to come, the book reinforced the " model minority " narrative then current. Reader's Digest also excerpted the book in its February 1968 issue. The book includes three forewords, by President Lyndon Johnson, Vice-President Hubert Humphrey, and Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield.
Chrysanthemums and Salt (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Documentary
- Immigrant experience, Importance of community, Self-reliance
- Available
Documentary film by Dianne Fukami on the Japanese American community in San Mateo, California, from its late 1800s origins to the outbreak of World War II. As hinted at by the film's title, Chrysanthemums and Salt largely focuses on two of the major industries that employed Japanese Americans before the war, growing and marketing chrysanthemums and salt companies that took advantage of the region's natural suitability for salt evaporation ponds. The film also covers Japanese American community life, the role of the churches and the outbreak of World War II and the reaction to the subsequent forced removal. Chrysanthemums and Salt is notable for including interviews with several Issei , conducted in Japanese with translated voiceovers. "Host" Jane Yanehiro narrates the film and also appears on camera.