Book Highlight: The Unknown Great
Book Highlight by Camille Daw
Photo: Ayako Ishigaki, c. 1952
In The Unknown Great, an anthology researched to produce articles for the Nichi Bei newspaper, Greg Robinson highlights, connects, and explores the diverse Japanese American experience from the twentieth century to the present. In this fascinating collection of essays, Robinson uncovers the lives and experiences of individuals such as radical feminist Issei writer Ayako Ishigaki, or Florence Auerenheimer, a Mennonite school teacher at Tule Lake. Unafraid of complex and otherwise controversial topics, Robinson welcomes discourse about topics such as religion and politics.
Robinson dedicates Chapter 4 to the “Queer Heritage of Japanese Americans,” and explores instances of LGBTQ+ representation within the Japanese American community and literature. However, he also describes Randy Kikukawa and the discriminatory experience he faced in July 1980 when attempting to enter Castro Station, a gay bar, but was denied entry. As the co-director of the University of California’s Gay People’s Union, Kikukawa and approximately 20 other members of the organization and LGBTQ+ community protested outside of the bar. In 1981, another bar faced a similar consequence.
Randy Kikukawa with protestors outside of the Castro Station after being denied entry due to their race.
One protestor, Bill Matsumoto, noted, “It was actually one of the hardest things I had to do in my entire life. Many Asians ran off through fear of letting their families know or because of potential immigration problems. In fact, some Asians told me that we might as well go to another bar if they didn’t want our business. I would agree to not giving them our business but I was damned if they were going to stop me from entering their establishment because of my race. Since World War I and the Asian Exclusion Acts, since the internment camps of World War II, Asians have always been too fearful of speaking out and becoming too vocal. Keeping a low political profile kept you safe.” In San Francisco, Bill Matsumoto helped form the Association of Lesbian and Gay Asians in 1981 which was succeeded by the Gay Asian Pacific Alliance, which remains active today.
While Chapter 4 of The Unknown Great is dedicated to Japanese LGBTQ+ heritage and history, Robinson expands the traditional narrative of Japanese American history by pointing to the experiences of Japanese Canadians, or the experiences of Fulbright scholars, such as social worker and activist Kenji Murase in Japan. He also describes lesser known aspects of the Nikkei experience such as interracial marriages, solidarity among Japanese Americans and African Americans in the battle for Civil Rights, and artists who went beyond racial, political, and geographic barriers that attempted to define them. The Unknown Great recognizes the ordinary individuals who aimed to dismantle racist, and discriminatory beliefs, attitudes, and policies, sometimes through their activism and defiance to conform.
Greg Robinson also acknowledges and confronts aspects of Asian American history many might be hesitant to admit to, such as the use of slurs in Japanese American literature. The Rafu Shimpo, however, pointed out the hypocrisy of this use of the term in 1929 as Japanese Americans were simultaneously calling for papers to stop using derogatory terms used to describe Japanese Americans. Robinson points out that nisei more often advocated against slurs and discriminatory language because of their own experience with harmful language.
Robinson’s book also explores musicians, ballerinas, artists, diplomats, ice skaters, playwrights, and religious leaders who simultaneously defined and defied the nikkei experience. While Robinson attempts to resolve many questions about race, politics, gender, sexuality, art, and music with his book about Japanese Americans and their experiences, many more stories lie beneath the surface. By recognizing these “unknown greats” we also recognize that there are many people, lives, and stories that remain unknown and at the margins of history.