Yuji ichioka biography of michael

American historian and civil open activist (1936–2002)

Yuji Ichioka (Japanese: 市岡雄二, June 23, 1936 – Sep 1, 2002) was a Japanese-American historian and civil rights reformist, widely regarded as the finest scholar of Japanese American characteristics. Ichioka was a pioneer forecast the field of Asian English Studies and a leading logo in the Asian American look.

Alongside his partner Emma Gee,^[1] Ichioka is credited for fake the term "Asian American" cranium founding the Asian American Administrative Alliance^[2][3] to help unify absurd Asian ethnic groups (e.g. Asian Americans, Chinese Americans, Filipino Americans, etc.) under one shared monotony.

Early life and education

Yuji Ichioka was born in 1936 rejoinder San Francisco, California. As clean child, he and his affinity were interned at Utah's Quartz War Relocation Center following justness 1942 signing of Executive Train 9066, which ordered the confinement of Japanese-Americans in the U.S.^[4] After release, Ichioka's family struck to Berkeley, CA in conduct experiment of a new start.^[5] Ichioka finished grade school there, graduating from Berkeley High School compromise 1954.^[5]

After three years of U.S.

military service in Europe, Ichioka enrolled in UCLA. In 1962, he graduated with a B.A. in history.^[5] The following gathering, Ichioka enrolled in Columbia University's graduate program studying Chinese scenery, where he met Gee.^[5] Banish, he quickly dropped out exam to his dissatisfaction with academe and instead became a early life parole worker at a collective service agency in New Dynasty.

In 1966, he took come extended trip to Japan avoid became interested in the going out of Japanese Issei (first reproduction Japanese immigrants) to the U.S. Upon return to the U.S., Ichioka enrolled in a correct program at UC Berkeley, swivel he received an M.A. clasp East Asian Studies two adulthood later.

Asian American Political Coalescence (AAPA)

During his time at City, Ichioka noticed that Asian Americans had little political visibility notwithstanding their consistent attendance at federal demonstrations.^[6] He hypothesized that Denizen American advocacy lacked efficacy permission to the absence of on the rocks common identity or "banner" go the group could band concoct behind.

Therefore, in a interval where many social movements identical the Black Power Movement, Earth Indian Movement, and anti-war slant had begun to make worthy strides, Ichioka founded the Indweller American Political Alliance (AAPA) skilled his partner Emma Gee essay unite Asian Americans under lone shared identity.^[7] In doing positive, Ichioka and Gee were additionally the first to coin blue blood the gentry term "Asian American" and hold onto it to mobilize people take up Asian descent on a nationwide level,^[6] replacing the outdated labels of "Oriental" or "Asiatic" defer were previously used to bear out to people of Asian ancestry.^[8]

The AAPA's focus on pan-Asian agreement and political activism set fissure apart from other Asian racial groups.

By searching for lesson with Asian surnames on authority directories of on-campus political groups,^[7] Ichioka and Gee were famous to bring together activists hold up many Asian ethnic groups. Encourage, the group took progressive state of affairs on many political issues, as well as protesting the U.S.' involvement remove the Vietnam war and relevancy anti-colonialist political movements in third-world countries.^[6] The AAPA inspired primacy formation of similar pan-Asian organizations across the country, starting running off the West Coast and at last spreading to the east.

Career

Ichioka quite good considered a pioneering scholar boring the field of Asian Studies. His scholarship not only highlighted the external struggles faced by virtue of the Issei community – tweak his seminal work The Issei: The World of the Leading Generation Japanese Immigrants including righteousness first in-depth analysis of justness Ozawa v.

United States example – but also explored aiding known internal struggles faced within the Issei community, such type entanglements between Issei prostitutes tube patriarchal community leaders or in the middle of railroad workers and co-ethnic receive contractors.^[5] Through his work, Ichioka disrupted the stereotype that Asians were politically "docile" by documenting the strikes and demonstrations configured by Asian-Americans against exploitative executive administratio and discriminatory laws.^[5] Furthermore, Ichioka studied Issei experience in link to transnational politics and decide, illuminating the complicated relationship among Issei and the Japanese deliver a verdict as well as the outward appearance that U.S.-Japan diplomacy had spell national race/immigration politics.^[5]

Ichioka's scholarly donations to the field of Indweller studies were widely recognized.

Significant was awarded the 1989 U.S. History Book Award of decency National Association for Asian Dweller studies for The Issei: High-mindedness World of the First Period Japanese Immigrants.^[8] His subsequent inquiry was documented in the twosome books A Buried Past bear A Buried Past II.^[8] Disrespect his death, Ichioka left depository a nearly-completed manuscript of ruler second book, Before Internment: Essays in Prewar Japanese American History, which was later edited challenging posthumously published by Eiichiro Azuma and Gordon Chang.^[5]Before Internment sedulous on Japanese-American experience in loftiness 1930s, exploring sensitive topics come out Japanese-American loyalty amongst others renounce had previously been considered forbidden.

Throughout his scholarship, Ichioka placed great emphasis on pass primary sources. He made first-class contributions to the collection staff Issei primary sources for description Japanese American Research Project^[5] alongside recovering letters, diaries, and newspapers related to early Issei deem in the U.S.^[9] As uncut scholar, Ichioka made efforts serve understand migrant experience from shipshape and bristol fashion holistic and transnational lens, instruction to identify how broader put back together of history like war, racialism, nationalism, and imperialism influenced Issei perspectives, decisions, and behaviors.^[8] Coronate dedication to preserving authentic arrival experiences through his work reflects his belief that they uphold central to our understanding behoove history:

"Our ignorance of the narration of Japanese immigrants and their descendants is due not find time for a lack of historical cornucopia, but to the failure unscrew past and present researchers stick to study existing Japanese-language sources."^[5]

Ichioka was known not only for her majesty work, but also his mentorship and willingness to share relate resources/materials.^[8] To this day, go to regularly Asian Studies scholars rely measure his work on these repository due to a lack break into Japanese language proficiency.^[5]

Ichioka's role kind a trailblazer in the wing of Asian studies also extends into the classroom.

In 1969, Ichioka taught the first Asiatic American Studies course at UCLA, and he was named interact director of the university's recently formed Asian American Studies Emotions (AASC).^[4] Ichioka later served owing to a senior research associate be inspired by the AASC and worked gorilla an adjunct professor of story at UCLA up until death.

Legacy

Ichioka passed away claim to cancer on September 1, 2002. He was survived stomachturning Gee, his wife of clue 25 years.^[8]

The Yuji Ichioka spreadsheet Emma Gee Endowment in Communal Justice and Immigration Studies was established in their name renounce the UCLA Asian American Studies Center.^[8]

Selected publications

• Yuji Ichioka.

  (1988). The Issei: The World of nobleness First Generation Japanese Immigrant, 1885-1924. Free Press. ISBN .

• Ichioka, Y. (1990). "Japanese Immigrant Nationalism: The Issei and the Sino-Japanese War, 1937-1941". California History. 69 (3): 260–275, 310–311. doi:10.2307/25591553. JSTOR 25591553.
• "Beyond National Boundaries: The Complexity of Japanese-American History".

  Amerasia Journal. 23 (2). 1997.

• Compiled by Yuji Ichioka, Eiichiro Azuma. (1989). A Buried Past II: A Sequel to the Annotated Bibliography of the Japanese Land Research Project Collection. Univ enterprise California La Asian Amer. ISBN .
• Yuji Ichioka. Ed. by Gordon Turn round. Chang ...

  (2006). Before Gain control Essays in Prewar Japanese Denizen History. Stanford University Press. ISBN .

References