{"id":"In Search of No-No Boy (film)","doctype":"articles","links":{"html":"https://resourceguide.densho.org/In%20Search%20of%20No-No%20Boy%20(film)/","json":"https://resourceguide.densho.org/api/3.0/articles/In%20Search%20of%20No-No%20Boy%20(film)/"},"title_sort":"insearchofnonoboyfilm","description":"Documentary film on the landmark novel\n \n\n No-No Boy\n \n\n and its author John Okada that includes a profile of Okada (including interviews with his widow and children), the background of the\n \n loyalty questionnaire\n \n and\n \n draft resistance\n \n , and the book's rediscovery a decade and a half later. The film includes readings of key scenes by poet\n \n Lawson Fusao Inada\n \n and dramatizations of them by actors.","rg_rgmediatype":["films"],"mediatype_label":"Films and Video","mediatype_icon":"fa-film","rg_interestlevel":["Grades 9-12","Adult"],"rg_genre":["Documentary"],"rg_availability":["Widely available"],"categories":[{"title":"Arts"}],"topics":[],"authors":[{"title":"Brian Niiya","json":"https://resourceguide.densho.org/api/3.0/authors/Brian%20Niiya/","html":"https://resourceguide.densho.org/authors/Brian%20Niiya/"}],"sources":[],"title":"In Search of No-No Boy (film)","published_rg":true,"modified":"2025-07-03T16:07:25","databoxes":{"rgdatabox-Core":{"rgmediatype":["films"],"title":["In Search of No-No Boy"],"creators":[],"interestlevel":["Grades 9-12","Adult"],"readinglevel":[],"guidedreadinglevel":[],"lexile":[],"theme":[],"genre":["Documentary"],"pov":["Told from perspective of scholars and Okada family members"],"relatedevents":[],"availability":["Widely available"],"freewebversion":["Yes"],"primarysecondary":[],"hasteachingaids":["No"],"warnings":[],"denshotopic":[],"geography":["Seattle"],"chronology":["1950s to 2000s"],"facility":[]},"databox-Films":{"title":["In Search of No-No Boy"],"date":["2007"],"genre":["Documentary"],"released":[],"director":["Frank Abe"],"producer":["Frank Abe","Shannon Gee"],"writer":["Frank Abe"],"screenplay":[],"story":[],"basedon":[],"narrator":[],"starring":["Lawson Fusao Inada (interviewee","dramatic readings)","Shawn Wong (interviewee)","Gail Nomura (interviewee)","Matthew Okada (interviewee)","Dorothea Okada (interviewee)","Frank Emi (interviewee)","Jim Akutsu (interviewee)","Gene Akutsu (interviewee)","Stephen Sumida (interviewee)","Roy Okada (interviewee)","Dorothy Okada (interviewee)","Naomi Pascal (interviewee)","Kyle Suzuki (actor)","Sam Tsubota (actor)","Shoko Zama (actor)","Toby McCreary (actor)"],"music":[],"cinematography":["Stevan Smith"],"editing":["."],"studio":["Independent Television Service"],"distributor":["Resisters.com Productions"],"runtime":["23 minutes"],"country":[],"language":[],"budget":[],"gross":[],"imdblink":[],"trailerlink":[]}},"rg_title":["In Search of No-No Boy"],"rg_pov":["Told from perspective of scholars and Okada family members"],"rg_freewebversion":["Yes"],"rg_geography":["Seattle"],"rg_chronology":["1950s to 2000s"],"rg_hasteachingaids":["No"],"body":"
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\n RGMediaType:films;\nTitle:In Search of No-No Boy;\nCreators:;\nInterestLevel:Grades 9-12; Adult;\nReadingLevel:;\nGuidedReadingLevel:;\nLexile:;\nTheme:;\nGenre:Documentary;\nPoV:Told from perspective of scholars and Okada family members;\nRelatedEvents:;\nAvailability:Widely available;\nFreeWebVersion:Yes;\nPrimarySecondary:;\nHasTeachingAids:No;\nWarnings:;\nDenshoTopic:;\nGeography:Seattle;\nChronology:1950s to 2000s;\nFacility:;\n

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\n Title:In Search of No-No Boy;\nDate:2007; \nGenre:Documentary;\nReleased:;\nDirector:Frank Abe;\nProducer:Frank Abe; Shannon Gee;\nWriter:Frank Abe;\nScreenplay:;\nStory:;\nBasedOn:;\nNarrator:;\nStarring:Lawson Fusao Inada (interviewee; dramatic readings); Shawn Wong (interviewee); Gail Nomura (interviewee); Matthew Okada (interviewee); Dorothea Okada (interviewee); Frank Emi (interviewee); Jim Akutsu (interviewee); Gene Akutsu (interviewee); Stephen Sumida (interviewee); Roy Okada (interviewee); Dorothy Okada (interviewee); Naomi Pascal (interviewee); Kyle Suzuki (actor); Sam Tsubota (actor); Shoko Zama (actor); Toby McCreary (actor);\nMusic:;\nCinematography:Stevan Smith;\nEditing:.;\nStudio:Independent Television Service;\nDistributor:Resisters.com Productions;\nRuntime:23 minutes;\nCountry:;\nLanguage:;\nBudget:;\nGross:;\nIMDBLink:;\nTrailerLink:;\n

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\n Documentary film on the landmark novel\n \n \n No-No Boy\n \n \n and its author John Okada that includes a profile of Okada (including interviews with his widow and children), the background of the\n \n loyalty questionnaire\n \n and\n \n draft resistance\n \n , and the book's rediscovery a decade and a half later. The film includes readings of key scenes by poet\n \n Lawson Fusao Inada\n \n and dramatizations of them by actors.\n

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\n \n In Search of No-No Boy\n \n was funded by the Independent Television Service Diversity Development Fund and the\n \n Washington Civil Liberties Public Education Program\n \n and intended as a demonstration project for a feature length documentary. Filmmaker Frank Abe ultimately decided not to make that documentary, instead producing a book about Okada that also collected some of his other writing. It was published in 2018 as\n \n John Okada: The Life and Rediscovered Work of the Author of No-No Boy\n \n by the University of Washington Press.\n

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\n \n Authored by\n \n Brian Niiya\n \n , Densho\n \n
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\n Niiya, Brian\n
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\n Might also like\n \n \n ... I Told You So\n \n \n (1974);\n \n \n Mitsuye and Nellie: Asian American Poets\n \n \n (1981);\n \n \n Conscience and the Constitution\n \n \n (2000)\n

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\n \n For More Information\n \n

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\n Abe, Frank, Greg Robinson, and Floyd Cheung.\n \n John Okada: The Life and Rediscovered Work of the Author of No-No Boy\n \n . Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2018.\n

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\n \n ITVS website\n \n

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