Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Beyond the Betrayal: The Memoir of a World War II Japanese American Draft Resister of Conscience

Beyond the Betrayal: The Memoir of a World War II Japanese American Draft Resister of Conscience

Kuromiya, Yoshito
Hansen, Arthur A.
Fusao Inada, Lawson

Paperback

Series: Nikkei in the Americas

Biographies GeneralAsian American StudiesRegional: West

Currently unavailable to order

ISBN10: 1646423720
ISBN13: 9781646423729
Publisher: University Press of Colorado
Published: Dec 15 2022
Pages: 234
Weight: 0.83
Height: 0.55 Width: 5.91 Depth: 8.98
Language: English
Beyond the Betrayal is a lyrically written memoir by Yoshito Kuromiya (1923-2018), a Nisei member of the Fair Play Committee (FPC), which was organized at the Heart Mountain concentration camp. The first book-length account by a Nisei World War II draft resister, this work presents an insider's perspective on the FPC and the infamous trial condemning its members' efforts. It offers not only a beautifully written account of an important moment in US history but also a rare acknowledgment of dissension within the resistance movement, both between the young men who went to prison and their older leaders and also among the young men themselves. Kuromiya's narrative is enriched by contributions from Frank Chin, Eric L. Muller, and Lawson Fusao Inada.

Of the 300 Japanese Americans who resisted the military draft on the grounds that the US government had deprived them of their fundamental rights as US citizens, Kuromiya alone has produced an autobiographical volume that explores the short- and long-term causes and consequences of this fateful wartime decision. In his exquisitely written and powerfully documented testament he speaks truth to power, making evident why he is eminently qualified to convey the plight of the Nisei draft resisters. He perceptively reframes the wartime and postwar experiences of the larger Japanese American community, commonly said to have suffered in the spirit of shikata ga nai--enduring that which cannot be changed--and emerged with dignity.

Beyond the Betrayal makes abundantly clear that the unjustly imprisoned Nisei could and did exercise their patriotism even when they refused to serve in the military in the name of civil liberties and social justice. Kuromiya's account, initially privately circulated only to family and friends, is an invaluable and insightful addition to the Nikkei historical record.

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