By Nichi Bei
From: Nichi Bei

Los Angeles Literature Note: This obituary of Los Ángeles writer Hisaye Yamamoto was published February 23, 2011 in Nichi Bei. Yamamoto was an important writer and Nisei writer, one of the first to get national recognition by publishing short stories in magazines such as Harper’s Bazaar. Yamamoto was one of many little known Asian/Japanese writers and Asian women of color to emerge from Los Ángeles in the aftermath of WW II. Her short stories are set mostly in and around Los Ángeles.

LOS ANGELES — Hisaye Yamamoto, a pioneer in Asian American literature, passed away on Jan. 30, 2011 in Los Angeles at the age of 89.

She was the author of “Seventeen Syllables,” “Yoneko’s Earthquake,” “The Legend of Miss Sasagawara” and other short stories about Japanese American life from the 1930s to the present. Based on actual events, many of her stories explored the sometimes difficult relationships between Issei couples and between Issei parents and their Nisei children. She also touched on such topics as interethnic relations and sexual harassment.

She is particularly noted for portraying the difficulties faced by the women of her parents’ generation. “Seventeen Syllables” (1949) is the story of an Issei woman who finds solace from manual labor by writing haiku for the local Japanese newspaper. The recognition she gets for her artistic endeavors is bitterly resented by her less-educated husband. The story is told from the point of view of their young daughter, who is herself beginning to learn about the complications of romance.

Born on Aug. 23, 1921 in Redondo Beach, she was the daughter of immigrants from Kumamoto Prefecture, Kanzo and Sae Yamamoto. She attended Compton Junior College, where she majored in French, Spanish, German and Latin. She also attended Japanese school for 12 years. Her father was a farmer and the family was living in Oceanside when World War II broke out.

From 1942 to 1945, she was incarcerated at the Poston, Ariz. concentration camp along with her father and three brothers; her mother had died before the war. In 1944, she and two brothers relocated to Massachusetts, but the death of the oldest brother, Johnny, while serving with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team in Italy brought them back to camp. In 1945, she moved with her family to Los Angeles.

Yamamoto became a published writer at the age of 14, writing for the Kashu Mainichi under the pen name “Napoleon.” While incarcerated, she wrote for the camp newspaper, the Poston Chronicle. After the war, she was a staff member for three years at the Los Angeles Tribune, an African American weekly. Read Rest of Article Here