HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept
{
"id": "The Block Manager: A True Story of Love in the Midst of Japanese American Internment Camps (book)",
"doctype": "articles",
"links": {
"html": "https://resourceguide.densho.org/The%20Block%20Manager:%20A%20True%20Story%20of%20Love%20in%20the%20Midst%20of%20Japanese%20American%20Internment%20Camps%20(book)/?format=api",
"json": "https://resourceguide.densho.org/api/3.0/articles/The%20Block%20Manager:%20A%20True%20Story%20of%20Love%20in%20the%20Midst%20of%20Japanese%20American%20Internment%20Camps%20(book)/?format=api"
},
"title_sort": "theblockmanageratruestoryofloveinthemidstofjapaneseamericaninternmentcampsbook",
"description": "Incarceration memoir of a\n \n Nisei\n \n woman from Stockton, California, who becomes a block manager at the\n \n Stockton\n \n and\n \n Rohwer\n \n detention camps and who meets and marries her husband at the latter. The narrative follow the couple to\n \n Tule Lake\n \n and postwar Japan.",
"rg_rgmediatype": [
"books"
],
"mediatype_label": "Books",
"mediatype_icon": "fa-book",
"rg_interestlevel": [
"Grades 9-12",
"Adult"
],
"rg_genre": [
"Memoir"
],
"rg_theme": [
"Overcoming – fear, weakness, vice",
"Self-preservation",
"Displacement"
],
"rg_availability": [
"Available"
],
"categories": [
{
"title": "Arts"
}
],
"topics": [],
"authors": [
{
"title": "Brian Niiya",
"json": "https://resourceguide.densho.org/api/3.0/authors/Brian%20Niiya/?format=api",
"html": "https://resourceguide.densho.org/authors/Brian%20Niiya/?format=api"
}
],
"sources": [],
"title": "The Block Manager: A True Story of Love in the Midst of Japanese American Internment Camps (book)",
"published_rg": true,
"modified": "2022-07-18T18:40:51",
"databoxes": {
"rgdatabox-Core": {
"rgmediatype": [
"books"
],
"title": [
"The Block Manager: A True Story of Love in the Midst of Japanese American Internment Camps"
],
"creators": [],
"interestlevel": [
"Grades 9-12",
"Adult"
],
"readinglevel": [],
"guidedreadinglevel": [],
"lexile": [],
"theme": [
"Overcoming – fear, weakness, vice",
"Self-preservation",
"Displacement"
],
"genre": [
"Memoir"
],
"pov": [
"Told from perspective of Nisei woman"
],
"relatedevents": [],
"availability": [
"Available"
],
"freewebversion": [],
"primarysecondary": [],
"hasteachingaids": [
"No"
],
"warnings": [],
"denshotopic": [],
"geography": [
"St. Louis, Missouri",
"Hiroshima, Japan"
],
"chronology": [
"1930s to 1950s"
],
"facility": [
"Stockton [16] - Stockton, California",
"Rohwer [9] - McGehee, Arkansas",
"Tule Lake [10] - Newell, California"
]
},
"databox-Books": {
"title": [
"The Block Manager: A True Story of Love in the Midst of Japanese American Internment Camps"
],
"author": [
"Judy Mundle"
],
"illustrator": [],
"origtitle": [],
"country": [],
"language": [],
"series": [],
"genre": [
"Memoir"
],
"publisher": [
"Open Books Press"
],
"pubdate": [
"2019"
],
"currentpublisher": [],
"currentpubdate": [],
"mediatype": [],
"pages": [],
"awards": [],
"isbn": [],
"worldcatlink": []
}
},
"rg_title": [
"The Block Manager: A True Story of Love in the Midst of Japanese American Internment Camps"
],
"rg_pov": [
"Told from perspective of Nisei woman"
],
"rg_geography": [
"St. Louis, Missouri",
"Hiroshima, Japan"
],
"rg_chronology": [
"1930s to 1950s"
],
"rg_hasteachingaids": [
"No"
],
"body": "<div class=\"mw-parser-output\">\n <div id=\"databox-Books\" style=\"display:none;\">\n <p>\n Title:The Block Manager: A True Story of Love in the Midst of Japanese American Internment Camps;\nAuthor:Judy Mundle;\nIllustrator:;\nOrigTitle:;\nCountry:;\nLanguage:;\nSeries:;\nGenre:Memoir;\nPublisher:Open Books Press;\nPubDate:2019;\nCurrentPublisher:;\nCurrentPubDate:;\nMediaType:;\nPages:;\nAwards:;\nISBN:;\nWorldCatLink:;\n </p>\n </div>\n <div class=\"rgonly\">\n <!--\"rgdatabox-CoreDisplay\" removed-->\n <div id=\"rgdatabox-Core\" style=\"display:none;\">\n <p>\n RGMediaType:books;\nTitle:The Block Manager: A True Story of Love in the Midst of Japanese American Internment Camps;\nCreators:;\nInterestLevel:Grades 9-12; Adult;\nReadingLevel:;\nGuidedReadingLevel:;\nLexile:;\nTheme:Overcoming – fear, weakness, vice; Self-preservation; Displacement;\nGenre:Memoir;\nPoV:Told from perspective of Nisei woman;\nRelatedEvents:;\nAvailability:Available;\nFreeWebVersion:;\nPrimarySecondary:;\nHasTeachingAids:No;\nWarnings:;\nDenshoTopic:;\nGeography:St. Louis, Missouri; Hiroshima, Japan;\nChronology:1930s to 1950s;\nFacility:Stockton [16] - Stockton, California; Rohwer [9] - McGehee, Arkansas; Tule Lake [10] - Newell, California;\n </p>\n </div>\n </div>\n <p>\n Incarceration memoir of a\n <a class=\"encyc notrg\" href=\"https://encyclopedia.densho.org/wiki/Nisei\" title=\"Nisei\">\n Nisei\n </a>\n woman from Stockton, California, who becomes a block manager at the\n <a class=\"encyc notrg\" href=\"https://encyclopedia.densho.org/wiki/Stockton_(detention_facility)\" title=\"Stockton (detention facility)\">\n Stockton\n </a>\n and\n <a class=\"encyc notrg\" href=\"https://encyclopedia.densho.org/wiki/Rohwer\" title=\"Rohwer\">\n Rohwer\n </a>\n detention camps and who meets and marries her husband at the latter. The narrative follow the couple to\n <a class=\"encyc notrg\" href=\"https://encyclopedia.densho.org/wiki/Tule_Lake\" title=\"Tule Lake\">\n Tule Lake\n </a>\n and postwar Japan.\n </p>\n <p>\n After a brief prologue set in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1986, the story begins in Stockton, where the Hayashi family—middle-aged\n <a class=\"encyc notrg\" href=\"https://encyclopedia.densho.org/wiki/Issei\" title=\"Issei\">\n Issei\n </a>\n parents with eight Nisei children—live a poor but happy life. Eldest daughter Janet, born in 1920, graduates at the top of her class from the local high school,\n <a class=\"encyc notrg\" href=\"https://encyclopedia.densho.org/wiki/Japanese_language_schools\" title=\"Japanese language schools\">\n Japanese language school\n </a>\n , and sewing school and helps her mother with chores and childcare at home while international tensions rise. After her brother's science experiment causes an explosion, the FBI investigates the family and discovers Janet's skill as a translator; she is subsequently called upon to translate as the FBI questions other Issei men in the community. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Janet loses her job at a theater and is shunned by her closest white friend. The family is rounded up and sent to the nearby Stockton Assembly Center, where Janet is promptly appointed to be a\n <a class=\"encyc notrg\" href=\"https://encyclopedia.densho.org/wiki/Block_managers\" title=\"Block managers\">\n block manager\n </a>\n . In the course of her duties, she becomes friends with Ray Konishi, a young Kibei bachelor in her block. Having arrived from Japan just prior to the war—and coming from a wealthy family from Hiroshima—he intends to go back to Japan as soon as he can.\n </p>\n <p>\n The family moves on to the Rohwer, Arkansas, concentration camp where Janet again serves as a block manager. Ray suddenly proposes to Janet, who, on the advice of her parents, turns him down, both because of the status difference between their families and because of fears of how she would fare in Japan as an American. But Ray persists and wins over both Janet and her parents. The couple marries in Rohwer and Janet soon becomes pregnant. Janet finds out that Ray had answered \"\n <a class=\"encyc notrg\" href=\"https://encyclopedia.densho.org/wiki/No-no_boys\" title=\"No-no boys\">\n no-no\n </a>\n \" on the \"\n <a class=\"encyc notrg\" href=\"https://encyclopedia.densho.org/wiki/Loyalty_questionnaire\" title=\"Loyalty questionnaire\">\n loyalty questionnaire\n </a>\n \" and is to be sent to Tule Lake. Though her parents want her to stay with the family until at least after she has the baby, she decides to go with him. A difficult childbirth leaves both mother and child in critical condition, though both eventually survive and thrive. At Tule Lake, Ray gets involved with organizations of inmates that saw their future in Japan and is among the dissidents who renounces his U.S. citizenship and is sent to the\n <a class=\"encyc notrg\" href=\"https://encyclopedia.densho.org/wiki/Santa_Fe_(detention_facility)\" title=\"Santa Fe (detention facility)\">\n Santa Fe internment camp\n </a>\n . As the war ends, and Ray prepares to go to Japan, Janet's family resettles in St. Louis, where they find conditions amenable. They urge her to join them. Though torn, Janet decides to join Ray in Japan.\n </p>\n <p>\n After a miserable journey during which she is seasick most of the time, Janet and her toddler son Norman are greeted by Ray upon their arrival in Tokyo. Since he works as a translator for the occupation, he is able to arrange for them to stay in a colonel's private apartment, and they enjoy a warm reunion. But when she and Norman journey to Ray's mansion in Hatsukaichi, outside of Hiroshima, she finds herself shunned by Ray's sister and by nearly everyone in the town as an American and nearly starves with food scarce. Upon his return, Ray is shocked by the conditions and is barely able to keep the family fed, even having to trade Janet's wedding ring for milk that turns out to be spoiled. With help from care packages from Janet's brother Will, who is in Tokyo serving with the occupation, and from her family in St. Louis, they are able to scrape by. Though material conditions improve, community sentiment against Janet and Norman largely do not, and they seek to return to the U.S. Though Janet and Norman are able to get passports, Ray is denied. Janet and Norman decide to go ahead and rejoin the rest of the family in St. Louis. Janet lands a job as a bookkeeper, and Norman quickly learns English and thrives as a student. After seven years, Ray finally is granted a passport and is able to rejoin the family in St. Louis, where he becomes a successful landscape architect and designer of Japanese gardens.\n </p>\n <p>\n Though authored by Judy Mundle, a close friend and co-worker of Janet's, the book is written in Janet's first person voice. Though all of the names in the book are changed, \"Janet\" was known to be Janice Kiyoko Hattori Koizumi, who was ninety-nine years old when the book was published. A longtime member of the St. Louis chapter of the\n <a class=\"encyc notrg\" href=\"https://encyclopedia.densho.org/wiki/Japanese_American_Citizens_League\" title=\"Japanese American Citizens League\">\n Japanese American Citizens League\n </a>\n , St. Louis declared May 7, 2019 to be Janice Hattori Koizumi Day in the city. She passed away just short of her 102nd birthday in Chicago.\n <sup class=\"reference\" id=\"cite_ref-ftnt_ref1_1-0\">\n <a class=\"\" href=\"#cite_note-ftnt_ref1-1\">\n [1]\n </a>\n </sup>\n </p>\n <div id=\"authorByline\">\n <b>\n Authored by\n <a class=\"encyc notrg\" href=\"https://encyclopedia.densho.org/wiki/Brian_Niiya\" title=\"Brian Niiya\">\n Brian Niiya\n </a>\n , Densho\n </b>\n </div>\n <div id=\"citationAuthor\" style=\"display:none;\">\n Niiya, Brian\n </div>\n <p>\n Might also like:\n <a class=\"external text offsite\" href=\"https://resourceguide.densho.org/Looking%20Like%20the%20Enemy:%20My%20Story%20of%20Imprisonment%20in%20Japanese-American%20Internment%20Camps%20(book)/\" rel=\"nofollow\">\n <i>\n Looking Like the Enemy: My Story of Imprisonment in Japanese-American Internment Camp\n </i>\n </a>\n by Mary Matsuda Gruenewald;\n <a class=\"encyc rg\" href=\"/wiki/Gasa Gasa Girl Goes to Camp (book)/\" title=\"Gasa Gasa Girl Goes to Camp (book)\">\n <i>\n Gasa Gasa Girl Goes to Camp\n </i>\n </a>\n by Lily Yuriko Nakai Havey;\n <a class=\"external text offsite\" href=\"https://resourceguide.densho.org/Dandelion%20Through%20the%20Crack/Kiyo's%20Story%20(book)/\" rel=\"nofollow\">\n <i>\n Kiyo's Story\n </i>\n </a>\n by Kiyo Sato\n </p>\n</div>\n",
"moreinfo": "<div class=\"section\" id=\"For_More_Information\">\n <h2>\n <span class=\"mw-headline\" id=\"For_More_Information\">\n For More Information\n </span>\n </h2>\n <div class=\"section_content\">\n <p>\n Official website:\n <a class=\"external free offsite\" href=\"http://openbookspress.com/books/the-block-manager.php\" rel=\"nofollow\">\n http://openbookspress.com/books/the-block-manager.php\n </a>\n </p>\n </div>\n</div>",
"footnotes": "<div class=\"section\" id=\"Footnotes\">\n <h2>\n <span class=\"mw-headline\" id=\"Footnotes\">\n Footnotes\n </span>\n </h2>\n <div class=\"section_content\">\n <div class=\"reflist\" style=\"list-style-type: decimal;\">\n <div class=\"mw-references-wrap\">\n <ol class=\"references\">\n <li id=\"cite_note-ftnt_ref1-1\">\n <span class=\"mw-cite-backlink\">\n <a class=\"\" href=\"#cite_ref-ftnt_ref1_1-0\">\n ↑\n </a>\n </span>\n <span class=\"reference-text\">\n Harry Levins, \"St. Louis Woman's Story of War-Time Internment Camp Told in New Book,\"\n <i>\n St. Louis Post-Dispatch\n </i>\n , May 24, 2019,\n <a class=\"external free offsite\" href=\"https://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/books-and-literature/reviews/st-louis-womans-story-of-war-time-internment-camp-told-in-new-book/article_de9b60fb-955f-55b1-9d20-5a2947ebfc4c.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">\n https://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/books-and-literature/reviews/st-louis-womans-story-of-war-time-internment-camp-told-in-new-book/article_de9b60fb-955f-55b1-9d20-5a2947ebfc4c.html\n </a>\n ; \"Janice Koizumi Has Passed Away,\" Jan. 10, 2022,\n <a class=\"external free offsite\" href=\"https://stlouisjacl.org/2022/01/10/janice-koizumi-has-passed-away/\" rel=\"nofollow\">\n https://stlouisjacl.org/2022/01/10/janice-koizumi-has-passed-away/\n </a>\n , both accessed on June 8, 2022.\n </span>\n </li>\n </ol>\n </div>\n </div>\n <!-- \nNewPP limit report\nCached time: 20230521153651\nCache expiry: 86400\nDynamic content: false\nComplications: []\nCPU time usage: 0.020 seconds\nReal time usage: 0.026 seconds\nPreprocessor visited node count: 363/1000000\nPost‐expand include size: 6151/2097152 bytes\nTemplate argument size: 1497/2097152 bytes\nHighest expansion depth: 5/40\nExpensive parser function count: 0/100\nUnstrip recursion depth: 0/20\nUnstrip post‐expand size: 1145/5000000 bytes\nExtLoops count: 0\n-->\n <!--\nTransclusion expansion time report (%,ms,calls,template)\n100.00% 17.956 1 -total\n 12.83% 2.303 1 Template:Reflist\n 12.71% 2.282 1 Template:RGDatabox-Core\n 11.48% 2.061 1 Template:Databox-Books\n 7.39% 1.326 1 Template:Published\n 7.36% 1.322 1 Template:AuthorByline\n 6.99% 1.256 1 Template:publish-rgonly\n-->\n <!-- Saved in parser cache with key encycmw:pcache:idhash:4470-0!canonical and timestamp 20230521153651 and revision id 34667\n -->\n </div>\n</div>"
}