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Reviews
Sento at Sixth and Main: Preserving Landmarks of Japanese American Heritage
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By Gail Dubrow with Donna Graves
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Seattle Arts Commission, Seattle, 2002, distributed by the University of Washington Press. Photographs, notes. 228 pages. $19.95 paper.
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Reviewed by Eiichiro Azuma
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
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Sento at Sixth and Main offers interesting snapshots of the
experiences of Japanese Americans, Issei and Nisei. Focusing on
ten "landmarks of Japanese American heritage" in Washington and
California, Gail Dubrow and Donna Graves shed light on various dimensions
of Japanese Americans' everyday lives "in a richer approach that
emphasizes changing social relations" (p. 41) around those sites
rather than freezing the meaning of the landmarks at certain moments
in time. Not only do "the places highlighted in this book clearly
document the imprint of Japanese immigrants and their children on
the American landscape," but the landmarks also help the authors
"reassembl[e] many of the scattered, lost and broken pieces to gain
a clearer understanding of what happened" (p. 5). With the aid of
oral histories, Dubrow and Graves skillfully let material objects
and photographic images tell nuanced stories of work, recreation,
community, and family among Japanese Americans — as well as
stories of interethnic entanglements — on the West Coast during
the twentieth century. Weaving personal stories associated with
specific landmarks into an overview of Issei and Nisei experiences,
this fascinating book puts faces on what has been hitherto uncovered
by professional historians.
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1
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An analysis of the first two chapters offers a window into the methodology and main arguments of Sento at Sixth and Main. The chapter on a Japanese lumber camp at Selleck, Washington, provides a glimpse into the daily life of immigrant workers, while the following chapter reconstructs the turbulent lives of Issei tenant farmers around the Neely estate near Auburn, Washington. Not only do these chapters chronicle the trials of Japanese immigrants in the face of institutionalized racism, but they also illuminate the general socioeconomic position of Issei in America — their exclusion from the mainstream society, economy, and culture. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places, Selleck now "survives as a landmark of American labor history" (p. 8), but its designated historic district encompasses only an area where former homes of white workers stand. The Japanese section of the lumber mill, segregated on the other side of the railroad tracks, is also symbolically placed beyond the pale of the officially recognized site and, hence, of history. Highlighting the inseparable ties between Japanese Americans past and present in Eurocentric America, the second chapter examines similar treatment that is being rendered to the succession of Issei residents at the Neely Mansion, now a King County landmark and museum. Though the building was home to Swiss, Japanese, and Filipino tenant farmers, the museum features only the story of the landlord's family. Again, the exclusion of an Issei material object — a Japanese-style bathhouse — from the official landmark underlines a common theme of racial exclusion. Dubrow makes brilliant use of these "places" not simply to illuminate the Issei position vis-à-vis the dominant public history but also to advocate for a more inclusive narrative that would testify to the multiethnic heritage of Selleck and the Neely Mansion as well as of America itself. |
2
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Sento at Sixth and Main extends the discussion of Japanese American marginality to the postwar years. Countering the accepted notion of successful Nisei assimilation, Graves details in the last chapter the circumstances under which the Holiday Bowl came into being during the 1950s as a mecca for Los Angeles Nisei bowlers who had encountered the racially exclusionary policies of the American Bowling Congress. Just as other featured landmarks — such as a community hall, a Japanese school, and a Buddhist temple — had started out as cultural hearths in the prewar years, so the bowling center emerged as a refuge for the American-born generation. Moreover, this landmark is under the threat of demolition now "for redevelopment of the site as a strip mall" (p. 195), despite community opposition. Not only does this suggest the similarity of racial experiences among the immigrant and second generations, but it corresponds with the underlying message of this book: "Before many more aspects of this heritage are lost, it is important to document the surviving landmarks, plan for their protection, and develop programs of public interpretation" (p. 3). Preservation, therefore, needs to go hand in hand with interpretation or reinterpretation. |
3
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Sento at Sixth and Main does not include any landmarks pertaining to the wartime internment of Japanese Americans. This appears to reflect a conscious decision of the authors, who argue that an excessive focus on that subject has led to unevenness in preservation efforts and biases in what is remembered. Thus, they argue that "sustained efforts are needed to protect the full range of places that are significant in Japanese American heritage" (p. 5; italics added). The inclusion of mundane places such as a sento (public bath) and a midwifery in lieu of camp-related objects poignantly shows the authors' attempt to learn "the scope, complexity, and character of the world the Nikkei had made" beyond the internment. |
4
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With its intriguing images and well-crafted stories, Sento at Sixth and Main is recommended for every level of readers, but a full appreciation of its innovative methodology and scholarship will probably require a basic understanding of Japanese American historiography. |
5
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