Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

“Watashi wa Amerikahitodesu (私はアメリカ人です): I Am American”

Students will explore how the American government’s racist and oppressive treatment of Asian Americans during World War II, as portrayed throughout Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, raises questions about what it means to be a citizen of the United States.

When internment begins in 1942, Henry’s father forces him to wear a button that says, “I’m an American.” He does this because he recognizes that white Americans are generally ignorant to the distinction between individuals of Japanese and Chinese descent. To protect Henry from ostracism and abuse, Henry’s father forces him to wear the button, which asserts his Americanness at all times.

“A More Perfect Union: Japanese Americans & the U.S. Constitution,” an online exhibit at the Smithsonian Museum’s site, “explores a period of U.S. history when racial prejudice and fear upset the delicate balance between the rights of a citizen versus the power of the state.” Focusing on the experiences of those Japanese Americans who were imprisoned in detention camps (like Keiko and the rest of the Okabes), this exhibit is “a case study in decision-making and citizen action under the U.