Japanese American Quotes

At the time I was writing 'Weedflower,' my friend Naomi Hirahara was writing a book about Japanese-American flower farmers. She knew quite a few elderly farmers and put me in touch with four or five of them who had been in camps during WWII. Some, like my father, were reluctant to talk about their experiences. ~ Cynthia Kadohata

The irony, of course, is that not long ago, it was Trump's own ancestors - German American immigrants - who were the demons of the day, as the United States fought two world wars against Germany. The only thing that saved Trump's people from being rounded up and put in camps during World War II, like Japanese American families - as Trump lauded President Franklin Roosevelt for doing - was that their skin color happened to be white. Those who are so eager to stigmatize Muslims today should keep this in mind - next time around it could be them. That's the way these American nativist, "know-nothing" uprisings work. One day it's Catholics who are the reviled aliens, then it's Jewish people, then it's Muslims. If you don't belong to one of these groups, just wait your turn - you could be next in line.
We will always be subjected to these us-versus-them hysteria campaigns as long as people in power seek to divide Americans for their own cynical political purposes - whether it's to whip up war fever, split apart working people, or simply keep the citizenry fearful and easier to manipulate. ~ Arsalan Iftikhar

Dr. Margaret Oda, a true trailblazer in education, served as Honolulu school district superintendent and was the driving force behind the middle-school concept and the first chairwoman of the Japanese American National Museum. ~ Colleen Hanabusa

I love Jet Li, but he looks very Chinese, and his English is Chinese-accented. He wouldn't have been the right guy to play a Japanese-American. ~ Barry Eisler

But when we came out of camp, that's when I first realized that being in camp, that being Japanese-American, was something shameful. ~ George Takei

During World War II, law-abiding Japanese-American citizens were herded into remote internment camps, losing their jobs, businesses and social standing, while an all-Japanese-American division fought heroically in Europe. ~ Tom Brokaw

They [442nd Regimental Combat Team] did more than defend America. They helped define America at its best...Rarely has a nation been so well served by a people it has so ill-treated. ~ --President Bill Clinton, Quoted In Honor Before Glory

Cherokee's American, Ned. It don't get more American than that. ~ Loren D. Estleman

As an African-American, as a woman, I think that I've been sensitized to the way in which history privileges the white male and the way in which certain aspects of history, the things that we are taught in school, the things that are handed down, never, never entered the picture though they might have been very important. ~ Rita Dove

Winning isn't worthwhile unless one has something finer and nobler behind it. When I reach the soul of one of my boys with an idea, or ideal, or vision, then I have done my job as a coach. ~ Amos Alonzo Stagg

For most of their history in China, Pugs were treasured dogs. By law, they could only be owned by nobility or by Buddhist monks. However, because they were held in such high regard, they were also used as pawns in international relations. In 732 C.E., China gave a Pug to Japan as a gift to cement diplomatic relations. The Japanese became infatuated with this dog, and it became the first of many given to Japanese diplomats. ~ Liz Palika

I was afraid to go into a restaurant because I was intimidated by the waiters furtively hovering behind me waiting for my plate to be emptied. Most of all I dreaded paying a bill-my awkwardness when I handed over the money after buying something did not arise from my stinginess, but from excessive tension, excessive embarrassment, excessive uneasiness and apprehension. ~ Osamu Dazai

And so they opened the door to the idea that in the name of future peace, any and all means might be justified - including even exterminatory war."108 Kant himself despised this turn, noting that such a war "would allow perpetual peace only upon the graveyard of the whole human race." And the American framers, equally aware of the crooked timber of humanity, were positively phobic about the prospect of imperial or messianic leaders. ~ Steven Pinker

Urban design as a discipline barely exists in most American and Canadian cities. In Singapore, there are innovative transportation strategies at work. ~ Moshe Safdie

My initial plan was to spend a year in France, go to some kind of school and learn a bit of French. I went a year in an American college in the outskirts of Strasbourg, but got a glimpse of a real art school, L'Ecole des Arts Decoratifs, and enrolled the following year. ~ John Howe

I really love Robert Duvall, who I think is maybe the best American actor. I love Robert Duvall because the ability that he has to change and do the most amazing work. ~ William Forsythe

The American president has a peculiar leadership responsibility to speak out for freedom. ~ Ted Cruz

Not only is Donald Trump the most despised candidate ever, but many of the people who have made the most scathingly censorious criticisms of him are members of his own party. This is absolutely unprecedented in our history, and it ought to give pause to all Americans, particularly supporters of Donald Trump. ~ Gizmo, The Puzzled Puppy

Sometimes I miss out the morning's painting session and instead study my Japanese books in the open. ~ Gustav Klimt

I often look ridiculous in Japan. There's really no way to eat in Japan, particularly kaiseki in a traditional ryokan, without offending the Japanese horribly. Every gesture, every movement is just so atrociously wrong, and the more I try, the more hilarious it is. ~ Anthony Bourdain

You know that American dream and American spirit of innovation we always talk about? Turns out, the bulk of it was built by people who came to America from somewhere else, not people born American. We have no birthright or natural lock on these things. ~ Sarah Lacy

I visited the compound of the American embassy and talked to the police and the people and encouraged them, and I told them to take the proper measure and apply the law against the people who are attacking them and attacking the buildings. ~ Hesham Qandil

In a letter to Gouverneur Morris (February 27, 1802), he drops into the following gloomy forebodings: -

"Mine is an odd destiny. Perhaps no man in the United States has sacrificed or done more for the present Constitution than myself; and, contrary to all my anticipations of its fate, as you know, from the very beginning, I am still laboring to prop the frail and worthless fabric. Yet I have the murmurs of its friends no less than the curses of its foes for my reward. What can I do better than withdraw from the scene? Every day proves to me more and more that this American world was not made for me. ~ Charles A. Conant

We were contented to let things remain as the Great Spirit Chief made them. They were not; and would change the rivers and mountains if they did not suit them. ~ Chief Joseph

Be careful what you swallow. Chew! ~ Gwendolyn Brooks

The Japanese army is now prepared to use every means within its power to subdue its opponents. The objectives of the Japanese Expeditionary Forces are, as clearly set forth in statements issued by the Japanese Government, not only to protect the vested interests of Japan and the lives and property of the Japanese residents in the affected area, but also to scourge the Chinese Government and army who have een pursuing anti-foreign and anti-Japanese policies in collaboration with Communist influences. ~ Iwane Matsui

In modern American politics, being the right kind of ignorant and entertainingly crazy is like having a big right hand in boxing; you've always got a puncher's chance. ~ Matt Taibbi

The fuck?" he said.
"The fuck?" said Jess. "The fuck what?"
"It's an American abbreviation," said Martin. " «The fuck?» means «What the fuck?» In America, they're so busy that they don't have time to say the «what». ~ Nick Hornby

Wonder Woman isn't even American; she's an Amazon princess. ~ Jim Lee

Mention the name George W. Bush in mixed company, and you're likely to spark a lot of debate and emotion - hot and cold, good and bad. Not a lot of neutral reaction. He was elected in the most controversial contest in American electoral history and governed during one of the most tumultuous decades. ~ Mark McKinnon

Killing Japanese didn't bother me very much at that time ... I suppose if I had lost the war, I would have been tried as a war criminal. ~ Curtis LeMay

The cultural capital American Christianity has amassed simply cannot be leveraged where it matters most. ~ James Davison Hunter

You're three or four different men but each of them out in the open. Like all Americans. ~ F Scott Fitzgerald

The American war is over; but this far from being the case with the American revolution. On the contrary, nothing but the first act of the drama is closed. It remains yet to establish and perfect our new forms of government, and to prepare the principles, morals, and manners of our citizens for these forms of government after they are established and brought to perfection. ~ Benjamin Rush

At the bottom of the box were two big fairy-tale collections our father had sent us sometime after our parents divorced in 1963. I was four and my sister was five. We never saw him again. One book was a beautifully illustrated collection of Russian fairy tales inscribed, "To Rachel, from Daddy." The other, a book of Japanese fables, was inscribed to me. It had been years since I had opened them. I stared at the handwriting. Something seemed a bit off. Then it dawned on me - both inscriptions bore my own adolescent scrawl. I had always remembered the books and our father's dedications as proof of his love for us. Yet, how malleable our memories are, even if our brains are intact. Neuroscientists now suggest that while the core meaning of a long-term memory remains, the memory transforms each time we attempt to retrieve it. In fact, anatomical changes occur in the brain every single time we remember. As Proust said, "The only paradise is paradise lost. ~ Mira Bartok

If a man loses anything and goes back and looks carefully for it, he will find it. ~ Sitting Bull

Great American Novel" = "doorstop of a book, usually pretentious, written by a man. ~ Lionel Shriver

With the strong bipartisan rejection of the Dorgan amendment today, the Senate cast a vote in favor of the U.S. working to knock down unfair trade barriers that hurt American business and farmers ~ Rob Portman

They were people turned to fuel for the American machine. Enslavement was not destined to end, and it is wrong to claim our present ~ Ta-Nehisi Coates

I got my dog back, in African-American language, your dog means your passion, your fire. ~ Deion Sanders

None so blind as those who won't see. ~ John Heywood

The best thing - in Shadow's opinion, perhaps the only good thing - about being in prison was a feeling of relief. The feeling that he'd plunged as low as he could plunge and he'd hit bottom. He didn't worry that the man was going to get him, because the man had got him. He was no longer scared of what tomorrow might bring, because yesterday had brought it. ~ Neil Gaiman

The American people are free to do exactly what they are told. ~ Ward Churchill

Misty Copeland is making history. During American Ballet Theatre's current season at the Metropolitan Opera House, Copeland will alight on that storied Lincoln Center stage, making her New York debut as the Swan Queen in the iconic masterpiece Swan Lake - a crowning achievement for any dancer, regardless of the color of her skin. ~ Heather Watts

What I worry about is not just Nissan, but Japanese manufacturers losing motivation to maintain production in Japan. The high yen is definitely a headwind. ~ Carlos Ghosn

I tend to be a great optimist when it comes to the United States and the American way of life, I think precisely because I wasn't born into it. ~ Paullina Simons