Links to Local Media Stories
REVIEW ~ Cincinnati CityBeat, by TT Stern-Enzi.
REVIEW ~ WVXU Cincinnati Edition, by Larry Thomas: Listen to it here or read it here.
STORY/INTERVIEW ~ Cincinnati Enquirer, by Jackie Demaline.
Links to National Interviews
INTERVIEW ~ Tribeca Film Festival website, after winning the Audience Favorite Award:
read it here.
FILMMAKER Q&A, Independent Lens/PBS:
read it here.
INTERVIEW ~ WNYC, New York Public Radio: Leonard Lopate with Linda Hattendorf and Roger Shimomura, March 12, 2007...
Some Signicant Events Affecting Japanese people in the United States.
From the compilation by Shizue Seigel, George Kich, Ph.D.
and Randall Senzaki
From the National Japanese
American Historical Society's publication: Nikkei Heritage.
| 1790 | The first U.S. Naturalization Act limits the right to become a naturalized citizen to "free white persons." |
| 1880 | California prohibits the issuance of licenses for marriage between a white person and "a Negro, mulatto, or Mongolian." |
| 1896 | Plessy v. Ferguson The U.S. Supreme Court rules in an 1896 decision, that state-imposed racial segregation of railroad cars is constitutional. Homer Plessy was denied the right to sit in a "Whites Only" train section because he had one black great grandparent, thus establishing a legal precedent that legitimized the "One Drop" rule. |
| 1909 | California passes a law specifically adding the Japanese to the list of those barred from marrying whites. |
| 1922 | The Cable Act specifies that any U.S.-born woman
marrying a "person ineligible for citizenship" would automatically
lose her U.S. citizenship. In a marriage terminated by divorce
or death, a Caucasian woman could regain her citizenship, but
a Nisei woman could not, because she was "of a race ineligible
for citizenship." In Ozawa vs. U.S., the U.S. Supreme Court rejects naturalization for Japanese immigrants on the grounds that Japanese, like other Asians, could never assimilate with white Americans. |
| 1924 | The Quota Immigration Act, also known as the "Japanese Exclusion Act," stops further immigration from Japan. |
| 1936 | The Cable Act is repealed. |
| 1942 | E.O. 9066 sets into motion the eviction and incarceration of Japanese Americans living on the West Coast. Since persons with as little as 1/16 Japanese ancestry were subject to internment, mixed-race people were also incarcerated. A subsequent policy of forced "resettlement" disperses internees to areas of the U.S. other than the West Coast. |
| 1945 | California Assembly Bill SB 321, signed by Gov. Earl Warren, prohibits marriage between whites and "Negroes, mulattos, Mongolians, and Malays". |
| 1945-1953 | The Occupation of Japan and the Korean War lead to significant U.S. troop levels in Japan. Despite restrictions against fraternization with the local populace, many relationships develop between servicemen and Japanese women. |
| 1946-1957 | The "G.I. Fiancees Act", or "War Brides Act" allows the wives and children of American military personnel to enter the U.S. as non-quota immigrants. The law primarily benefits Europeans, but for the first time since 1924, some immigration from Japan is permitted. In 1947, legislation specifically addressing marriages between U.S. servicemen and Japanese citizens subjects both parties to rigorous background checks, and bars women who are employed in activities considered undesirable. Not until 1957 does new legislation relax restrictions against marriages between U.S. military and Japanese nationals. |
| 1948 | In Perez vs. Sharp, the California Supreme Court rules against anti-miscegenation laws, stating that they were based on racial distinctions that were "by their very nature, odious to a free people". The U.S. Supreme Court rules that race-restrictive housing covenants are unconstitutional. As Japanese Americans move into integrated neighborhoods, increased social interaction leads to more intermarriage. |
| 1952 | The McCarran-Walter Immigration and Naturalization Act allows Japanese immigrants to become naturalized citizens. |
| 1958 | The first Gallup poll conducted on the subject of interracial marriage revealed that 94% of whites opposed them. |
| 1959 | Judge Leon Bazile of Virginia sentenced Richard and Mildred Loving to prison for one year for their interracial marriage. |
| 1967 |
In Loving vs. Virginia, anti-miscegenation laws are ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court. The case is argued by William Marutani, JACL legal counsel, and the first Nisei to argue before the Supreme Court. |
Resource Links
The Cats of Mirikitani official website www.thecatsofmirikitani.com
Jimmy Mirikitani Resources & Links
The "Jimmy Mirikitani" page from the 2006 exhibit of his art at the Asian/Pacific/American Studies Program and Institute's American Gallery, curated by Roger Shimomura. Includes a curator's statement and artist's bio, plus selected Mirikitani artwork.
The 2006 Mirikitani exhibit at The Wing Luke Asian Museum, Seattle, Washington.
Jimmy's cousin, San Francisco poet laureate Janice Mirikitani, featured on KQED-FM's Speaking Freely: An Evening with Remarkable Women: Janice Mirikitani.
The website of Roger Shimomura, Jimmy's friend and colleague who is featured in the film and helps to curate Mirikitani's work.
The Center for Asian American Media,a funder of THE CATS OF MIRIKITANI. CAAM presents stories conveying the richness and diversity of Asian American experiences to the broadest audience possible.
Japanese American Internment Resources & Related Links
C. John Yu's Internment Website An extensive compendium of government and private reports, memos and correspondence, including the Munson Report, contributions from camp residents and workers, including relevant pre- and post-war matters. Dozens of links and web documents. An eye-opening source of American History not prominently available elsewhere.
Seabrook Museum. Seabrook Farms and the Seabrook frozen food factory was where Jimmy Mirkitani was sent at the end of WWII.
KQED Asian Education Initiative The story of Angel Island Immigration and Detention Center; a history of U.S. worldview and immigration policies; Japanese, Chinese and general Asian immigration history. Angel Island video, Quicktime
www.densho.org, the organization that preserves the testimonies of Japanese Americans who were unjustly incarcerated during World War II before their memories are extinguished. View firsthand accounts, a timeline of events, virtual exhibitions and more.
Confinement and Ethnicity, a National Park Service site about the camps. Note: page is not always active.
PBS.org: Conscience and the Constitution, a documentary about the organized draft resistance among Japanese Americans in internment camps. Read about the loyalty tests, the trials that followed the resistance and more.
PBS.org: P.O.V: Rabbit in the Moon, a documentary about internment, featuring video clips and interactive resources.
Independent Lens:Face to Face,an interactive project that documents the stories of Japanese Americans during World War II alongside those of Arab Americans post 9/11, exploring what it means to be an American with the face of the enemy.
PBS: Children of the Camps, a documentary by Satsuki Ina about Japanese American children confined in the internment camps. Ina also produced, directed and wrote From a Silk Cocoon: A Japanese American Renunciation Story.
The National Japanese American Historical Society, dedicated to the collection, preservation, authentic interpretation and sharing of historical information of Japanese American experiences, including internment and more.
The War Relocation Authority (WRA) camps, used to carry out the U.S. government's detention of persons of Japanese descent during World War II:
The California Tule Lake Internment Camp, the largest and most controversial of the ten War Relocation Authority (WRA) camps. Jimmy Mirikitani was imprisoned here and recently attended a Tule Lake Pilgrimage.
The camp at Granada, Colorado: the Amache Preservation Society and the Colorado State archives.
The camp at Gila River, Arizona.
The camp at Heart Mountain, Wyoming.
The Arkansas Memory Project, for the camp at Jerome, Arkansas.
The camp at Manzanar, California.
The camp at Minidoka, Idaho.
The camp at Poston, Arizona.
The Arkansas Memory Project, for the camp at Rohwer, Arkansas, and the National Historic Cemetery Landmark.
The camp at Topaz, Utah.
Many thanks to Emily Momohara for the Internment site links. Other sources include PBS, Independent Lens, the National Park Service, et. al.