Rhandy: No-No Boy

In the book No No Boy there are two very important characters, Ichiro Yamada who is a twenty-five year-old Japanese man recently released from prison camp and jail for refusing to join the U. S. Army. No-No Boy is what they called the people who did not want to join the U.S. Army and where not fighting for the Japanese either. He is in the middle of both cultures. He doesn’t know how to function as an American because he does not want to go to war against the Japanese (his own culture) and does not want to go to war against the Americans. That is a very important factor in this book because he does know which side to be on. Ms. Yamada is also a very important character because although she is small and wiry she has powerful words for Ichiro and tries to change the way he thinks by telling him what to do.

During WW2 all Japanese descending people were put into “relocating camps” under suspicious activity. The number by which the people were put into these camps was large. Many of the people were put into these camps just because of the way they looked and everyone put into these “relocating camps” had to take all the belonging they could carry with them. The big issue is this “relocating camp”. People are supposed to be relocated into a camp during emergencies but only the Japanese people were put in. The main idea of the readings so far is that Ichiro Yamada does not understand why the Japanese people are being treated in this manner and wants to do something for his rights as a persons and his rights as a Japanese American. He shows us his emotions in this peace “Why is it then that I am unable to convince myself that I am no different from any other American? (John Okada 82). This sentence shows his struggles with society in America during the WW2 period.

Question

If you were in Ichiro’s shoes but in a reverse view (being in Japan because you like the life there, fighting against America) would you fight against America and your family?