[NFBV-Potomac-Announce] Book Club Facing the Mountain

[John Halverson]

Hello Colleagues and Friends,

This month's book is Facing the Mountain about experiences of Japanese Americans in World War II.

We plan to meet at 7:00 pm on Wednesday April 6.

We can meet by Zoom or in person at our home.  Please let  me know your preference by Monday evening.

If we meet at our house we can order dinner.  I will send out a menu on Tuesday.

The Zoom option will be available for those who do not wish  to meet in person or if a majority wishes to meet exclusively by Zoom.

I will distribute the Zoom information on Tuesday.

The questions are attached and below.

John

I think these questions  are from the  publisher.


Facing the Mountain
1. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, shocked Americans
of all creeds and ethnic backgrounds. Almost universally, Americans understood
that America's entry into the war was now inevitable and that as a consequence
their day-to-day lives were about to change in large but unpredictable ways.
How do you think Japanese Americans' experience of the attack might have
differed from the rest of the American population? How might it have differed
from the experience of German Americans and Italian Americans? In what ways
do you think most Americans' reactions to the attack might have been similar or
dissimilar to their reactions to the September 1, 2001, attack on the Twin Towers
in New York? In what way might Muslim Americans in particular have
experienced the 9/11 attack and its aftermath differently from other Americans?
2. In Hawaii, Kats Miho grew up in a racially stratified society that severely limited
opportunities for Asian immigrants and their American children. Hawaii's
plantation system, in particular, allowed a few families to control the lives and
livelihoods of many thousands of immigrants who worked in the cane fields.
Similarly, the Shiosaki, Tokiwa, and Hirabayashi families faced systemic
anti-Asian discrimination that prevented them from owning land, using certain
public facilities, and fully participating in American life.
In what ways do immigrants from other parts of the world face similar obstacles
in the United States today? To what extent do Asian immigrants and their
descendants, in particular, still face prejudices and obstacles today?
3. When Kats Miho and the other Japanese American members of the Hawai'i
Territorial Guard were told they could no longer serve in the unit, many of them
were reduced to tears.
Why do you think they had such a strong emotional response to being removed
from the unit? How do you think you might have reacted under similar
circumstances?
4. One of the central themes of Facing the Mountain is the universal importance of
home-the consequences of losing one's home, the human need to create a
sense of home wherever one must live, the drive to return home when far away
from it.
In what specific ways do these concerns with home play out in the lives of the
book's four principal protagonists-Kats Miho, Fred Shiosaki, Rudy Tokiwa, and
Gordon Hirabayashi? What role does home-the loss of it, the need to create it,
the drive to return to it-play in the lives of each of them?
5. As is often the case with immigrants from various parts of the world, the attitudes
and values of the first generation of Japanese immigrants to arrive in America
often come in conflict with the attitudes and values of their American children.
How and where do these conflicts show up in Facing the Mountain? What roles
do they play in shaping the events the story chronicles? Do the same dynamics
play a role in your own family history or the family histories of your friends and
acquaintances?
6. In a similar vein, the beliefs, traditions, and values of immigrants sometimes work
their way into the mainstream of American thought and strengthen our institutions
and manner of living in novel ways.
What traditional Japanese beliefs, values, or attitudes, if any, did Kats, Fred,
Rudy, and Gordon carry into the war and into their lives that made them better
soldiers and citizens?
7. The Japanese American families forced from their homes were only allowed to
bring with them whatever they could carry to the buses that transported them to
"assembly centers." In most cases, this meant abandoning many of their most
precious possessions as well as walking away from the source of their
livelihoods.
Looking around your home, what would you have taken to camp with you? What
would you have done with any family pets? With your car? With your family
heirlooms? With your business interests? How would you have explained to your
children what was happening? What would you have done about any family
members with special needs?
8. Many of the young Japanese American men who resisted the draft refused to
serve so long as their parents and family members were incarcerated in the
camps.
In your opinion, was this a reasonable stance to take?
9. During the war, within the Japanese American community, there was a great deal
of controversy over those who refused to serve. In recent years the resistors
have come to be seen in a much more positive light-even heroic-by many
Japanese Americans, as well as by others who are concerned with matters of
social and racial equity.
What do you think the legacy of the resisters is?
10.In a similar vein, the young men who joined the 442nd and the 100th were
inarguably courageous as demonstrated by their extraordinary battle record
throughout the war, the number of casualties they took, and the number of
awards that were eventually conferred on them.
But does courage have other dimensions? What about the actions of someone
like Gordon Hirabayashi? How does his courage in violating the curfew and
refusing to be incarcerated in a camp stack up against the courage of the Nisei
soldiers who served in Europe?
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/563930/facing-the-mountain-by-daniel-james-bro
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I think these questions  are from the  publisher.


Facing the Mountain
1. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, shocked Americans
of all creeds and ethnic backgrounds. Almost universally, Americans understood
that America’s entry into the war was now inevitable and that as a consequence
their day-to-day lives were about to change in large but unpredictable ways.
How do you think Japanese Americans’ experience of the attack might have
differed from the rest of the American population? How might it have differed
from the experience of German Americans and Italian Americans? In what ways
do you think most Americans’ reactions to the attack might have been similar or
dissimilar to their reactions to the September 1, 2001, attack on the Twin Towers
in New York? In what way might Muslim Americans in particular have
experienced the 9/11 attack and its aftermath differently from other Americans?
2. In Hawaii, Kats Miho grew up in a racially stratified society that severely limited
opportunities for Asian immigrants and their American children. Hawaii’s
plantation system, in particular, allowed a few families to control the lives and
livelihoods of many thousands of immigrants who worked in the cane fields.
Similarly, the Shiosaki, Tokiwa, and Hirabayashi families faced systemic
anti-Asian discrimination that prevented them from owning land, using certain
public facilities, and fully participating in American life.
In what ways do immigrants from other parts of the world face similar obstacles
in the United States today? To what extent do Asian immigrants and their
descendants, in particular, still face prejudices and obstacles today?
3. When Kats Miho and the other Japanese American members of the Hawai‘i
Territorial Guard were told they could no longer serve in the unit, many of them
were reduced to tears.
Why do you think they had such a strong emotional response to being removed
from the unit? How do you think you might have reacted under similar
circumstances?
4. One of the central themes of Facing the Mountain is the universal importance of
home—the consequences of losing one’s home, the human need to create a
sense of home wherever one must live, the drive to return home when far away
from it.
In what specific ways do these concerns with home play out in the lives of the
book’s four principal protagonists—Kats Miho, Fred Shiosaki, Rudy Tokiwa, and
Gordon Hirabayashi? What role does home—the loss of it, the need to create it,
the drive to return to it—play in the lives of each of them?
5. As is often the case with immigrants from various parts of the world, the attitudes
and values of the first generation of Japanese immigrants to arrive in America
often come in conflict with the attitudes and values of their American children.
How and where do these conflicts show up in Facing the Mountain? What roles
do they play in shaping the events the story chronicles? Do the same dynamics
play a role in your own family history or the family histories of your friends and
acquaintances?
6. In a similar vein, the beliefs, traditions, and values of immigrants sometimes work
their way into the mainstream of American thought and strengthen our institutions
and manner of living in novel ways.
What traditional Japanese beliefs, values, or attitudes, if any, did Kats, Fred,
Rudy, and Gordon carry into the war and into their lives that made them better
soldiers and citizens?
7. The Japanese American families forced from their homes were only allowed to
bring with them whatever they could carry to the buses that transported them to
“assembly centers.” In most cases, this meant abandoning many of their most
precious possessions as well as walking away from the source of their
livelihoods.
Looking around your home, what would you have taken to camp with you? What
would you have done with any family pets? With your car? With your family
heirlooms? With your business interests? How would you have explained to your
children what was happening? What would you have done about any family
members with special needs?
8. Many of the young Japanese American men who resisted the draft refused to
serve so long as their parents and family members were incarcerated in the
camps.
In your opinion, was this a reasonable stance to take?
9. During the war, within the Japanese American community, there was a great deal
of controversy over those who refused to serve. In recent years the resistors
have come to be seen in a much more positive light—even heroic—by many
Japanese Americans, as well as by others who are concerned with matters of
social and racial equity.
What do you think the legacy of the resisters is?
10.In a similar vein, the young men who joined the 442nd and the 100th were
inarguably courageous as demonstrated by their extraordinary battle record
throughout the war, the number of casualties they took, and the number of
awards that were eventually conferred on them.
But does courage have other dimensions? What about the actions of someone
like Gordon Hirabayashi? How does his courage in violating the curfew and
refusing to be incarcerated in a camp stack up against the courage of the Nisei
soldiers who served in Europe?
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/563930/facing-the-mountain-by-daniel-james-bro