| Book Review | The Western Historical Quarterly, 34.1

You have not been recognized as a subscriber to the WHQ online. About 200 words from this article are provided below; about 364 words remain.

If you are a individual subscriber to the Western Historical Quarterly, you may:: • login here if you have already registered for online access.; • Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.
• Set up your online account for the first time.
If you are not a subscriber to the Western Historical Quarterly, you can:: • subscribe here.
• Purchase a research pass to gain two hour access to the entire History Cooperative web site. You will have full access to current issues of the Western Historical Quarterly (104.3-present). Note: the Research Pass does not provide access to JSTOR's holdings of the Western Historical Quarterly.
Instititutions can:: • Subscribe to this journal and receive print and electronic issues.
• Activate your existing subscription so that we recognize your IP number ranges.

| Book Review | The Western Historical Quarterly, 34.1 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

An Absent Presence: Japanese Americans in Postwar American Culture, 19451960. By Caroline Chung Simpson. (Durham: Duke University Press, 2001. xi + 234 pp. Illustrations, notes, bibliography, index. $54.95, cloth; $18.95, paper.)

The experiences of Japanese Americans during World War II, culminating in the incarceration of nearly their entire West Coast population, remains the touchstone of Japanese American identity and collective memory. While the events surrounding the internment are by now well established and the rationale for it discredited, how Americans remember this event is less fixed and also less studied. The inclusion of a quote by a Japanese American Citizen League's wartime leaders, Mike Masaoka, on the National Japanese American Memorial to Patriotism (Washington, D. C.) lead to a rancourous debate in the Japanese American community. The quote read: "I am proud that I am an American of Japanese ancestry. I believe in this nation's institutions, ideals, and traditions. I glory in her heritage. I boast of her history. I trust in her future." The anger over these words illustrates both the role Japanese Americans have played in shaping this memory and how they have tailored it to fit larger narratives of American nationhood. . . .

There are about 364 more words in this article. Please log in (or, if you are not yet an authorized user, please go to the User Setup page) to gain full access rights. Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.