No-No Boy

The novel dramatizes thestruggles of twenty-five-year-old Ichiro Yamada as he returns home after two years spent in prison. Ichiro is a no-no boy, meaning that in response to the 1943 questionnaire entitled “Statement of U.S. Citizenship of Japanese American Ancestry,” he answered no to questions 27 and 28. These questions asked respondents first, if they would serve in the U.S. military whenever ordered and second, if they would forswear allegiance to the Emperor of Japan or any other foreign power. Throughout the novel, Ichiro continually examines his own motives for answering no to these questions. Was he angry about internment? Was he a pawn of his mother who refuses to assimilate in any way whatsoever? Was he a coward or a fool? Ichiro wonders what the future now holds for him in America; the book maps his journey to figure that out. Ichiro attempts to reconnect with family, friends, and old acquaintances, desperate to resolve whether he is Japanese or American. Is America a place of promise that welcomes people of all backgrounds, or a place of prejudice where minorities are excluded? These are the questions Ichiro desperately seeks to answer.

His journey includes reuniting with childhood friends, trying to connect with his parents and younger brother, and visiting Japanese neighbors who have been galvanized by the war.