East Asian Studies in North America

China
Japan
Korea CHINA

The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II. Chang, Iris. 290pp. Basic Books, 1997, $25.00. ISBN 0465068359.

Chang tells the story of the Sino-Japanese war atrocities perpetrated by the invading Japanese army in Nanking in December 1937. In an eight week period 350,000 soldiers and civilians were slaughtered. While readers are told the gory details, they also learn of the heroism of a Nazi businessman who lived in China for thirty years. His bravery lends an ironic touch-someone with evil credentials doing good-and goes one to tell the story of what happened to him when he returned to Germany at the war's end. Readers are reminded that every culture has some tragic episode in its history; but what makes this important is the Japanese ongoing denial of responsbility.

The Blue House. Cheng, Naishan. 400 pp. China Books Paperback, 1989, $7.95, ISBN 00174532.

The author in five compelling short stories describes the present day lives of Shanghai capitalists who have survived 30 years of political upheaval and the complex situations their children face in today's world.

Spring Moon: A Novel of China. Lord, Betty Bao. p. Harper Paperback, $5.95, ISBN 0061001058.

This novel traces the history of a prominent Mandarin Chinese family from 1892 to 1927-from the apex of their power and wealth to their gradual integration into the mainstream of Chinese society as Communists gain and secure power on the mainland.. The story is told through the eyes of Spring Moon, a lively and intelligent 9 years old daughter of the house of Chang who complains about her bound feet. While the reader sees the beauty of the inner courtyard society and observes its respect for family , order, scholarship and poetry, we see also how Chinese society's rigid etiquette hobbles the lives of its women. Spring Moon learns to read and write. Both her eldest uncle and her husband have studied in America and have modern ideas, but her husband i s killed in the Boxer Rebellion and Spring Moon is forced into hiding for her role in the assassination of a Manchu official. She gives birth to a son that she cannot acknowledge and sees her daughter become a Communist revolutionary.

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Japan

The Journey: Japanese Americans, Racism and Renewal. Hamanaka, Sheila. p. Orchard Press, 1990, $18.95, ISBN 0531058492.

This story is based on the artist Hamanaka's 25-foot, five panel mural which tells of the experience of Japanese Americans in internment camps during World War II. Her parents, brother and sister were interned, though she was born after the war. Sh e is passionate about what happened to her people.

Strawberry Road: A Japanese Immigrant Discovers America Ishikawa, Yoshini. 256 p. Kodansha, 1991, $19.95, ISBN 4770015518.

Ishikawa comes to America in 1965 to join his brother on a strawberry farm 80 miles southeast of Los Angeles full of ideas about America's wealth. Reality reveals a muddle of "Japlish" and immigrants who cling to Japanese culture. Yoshimi labors in the fields, suffers prejudice and embarrassment in high school, and writes about the differing rites of passage attitudes between old and new immigrants. He observes the problems of mixed marriages with his social commentary alternating with memories of his own memories of sexual awakening.

Turning Japanese: Memories of a Samsei. Mura, David. 384 p. Little, Brown, 1997, $14.95, ISBN 0385423446.

A third generation Japanese American who grows up knowing little about his heritage wins an award for his poetry that provides him with an opportunity to live for one year in Japan. He lives in Tokyo, struggles with the language, and enjoys being p art of the majority for the first time. He describes Japanese life with its stylish crowds, bright streets and cramped interiors. Mura learns about Japanese etiquette and attitudes, confronts racism and other unresolved issues in his life. This is an eloq uent account about a young man's coming of age in his native culture.

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Korea

Still Life with Rice: A Young American Woman Discovers the Life and Legacy of Her Korean Grandmother. Lee, Helle. 320p. Scribner, 1996, $24.00, ISBN 0684802708.

Lee's maternal grandmother born into a merchant family in 1912, has a traditional upbringing and is married to a husband that is chosen for her. Her life is disrupted by Japanese occupation of the country and the family settles in China where Baek prospers as a dealer in sesame oil and opium. When the Japanese occupation of Korea ends, Baek returns home to witness the outbreak of civil war. The family suffers many hardships before immigrating to Los Angeles.

Witness to War: Korea. Paschall, Rod. p. Putnam/Pengree, 1995, $12.00, ISBN 0399519343.

This military history is a good introduction to the Korean War. Paschall presents firsthand accounts from soldiers and strategists who fought with the U.S. during the Korean War. The conflict is viewed from the perspective of half a century and the end of the cold war which allows the author to place the "forgotten war" in Korea in context as an early and necessary victory for the opponents of Communism. General MacArthur emerges as a superb strategist who lacked political judgment.

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This bibliography is compiled by Mary Miller.