Nisei Gone Wrong
Nisei Tragedy
Publication: Nakano, Tokyo, Japan: Shinposha, 1938. Second Printing.
Notes: An English-language translation of the second volume of Niisato's cautionary series "portraying the hardships and tragedies of Japanese immigrants and their descendants." This second volume "touches upon Nisei delinquency and runaways" (A Buried Past, 520).
Among the stories told are of Umekichi Tanaka, a Nisei Christian sentenced to death for his involvement in the murder of a Filipino (his sentence was commuted to life in prison) and Tsuruko Hatashima, whose story scandalized Issei in Seattle, when a story ran in the newspaper about a Nisei prostitute.
Niisato (1884–1962?), a Christian minister, emigrated from Japan in the early 20th century and toured widely, speaking to Japanese audiences in the US and Hawaii. He was sometimes called a male Helen Keller because he was both hearing and sight impaired. During the Second World War he was interned at Poston; he became a US citizen in 1957.
Translated from the Japanese by Eiji Tanabe and Carl Kondo. 125 pages.
Edition + Condition: Second printing (following the first of 1936). A very good copy in original wrappers. This copy is inscribed, "Mr & Mrs Ishii, Kanishi Niisato. Oct 3—1938."
Item No: #364379
Price: $500