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How the interests of Seattle and Japanese immigrants were linked in the processes of urban boosterism before World War II

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9781439902134

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Reviews

Claiming the Oriental Gateway is an important contribution to the understanding of diversity of Japanese American experiences and a valuable contribution to the field of Asian American Studies, U.S. urban history, and U.S. western history. Karen Leong, author of The China Mystique: Pearl S. Buck, Anna May Wong, Mayling Soong Chiang, and the Transformation of American Orientalism [A]n engaging and well-researched study of how life in the international 'ghetto' of Seattle's Jackson Street neighborhood reflected the racial dynamics of Pacific Rim geopolitics in the years prior to World War II... [T]his book is a treasure. Lee superbly evokes the consciousness of both a place and an entire era. Pacific Northwest Quarterly, Winter 2011/2012 Lee has written a welcome contribution to the understudied history of Seattle and the Pacific Northwest while simultaneously making a valuable theoretical intervention in scholarly understandings of Japanese American ethnic identity and early twentieth century U.S. Racial ideologies... [S]tudents of urban, Asian American, and Pacific Northwest history will find much to appreciate in this thoughtful book. Pacific Historical Review, February 2012 Lee's account is engaging and original. Drawing upon a wealth of archival and interview-based sources, it extends Asian American historical understandings of the oft-ignored Pacific Northwest... Lee's most important contribution is to connect discussions of Japanese American ethnic identity (by historians such as David Yoo and Lon Kurashige) and Asian American transnationalism (by scholars such as Yong Chen, Madeline Hsu, Dorothy Fujita-Rony, and Eiichiro Azuma) by arguing that Japanese Americans crafted their identities, even local ones, with scrupulous attention to international configurations... [She] argues convincingly that Japanese Americans fought for their place in the United States in part by locating themselves as part of a cosmopolitan, Pacific Rim city, and in doing so, helped to shape the city itself. Lee's narrative of negotiations over race, nation, and space is a welcome addition to regional, urban, and Asian American historiography. American Historical Review, February 2012 [Lee] does a commendable job of describing the Nikkei community's role in the history of Seattle. She provides a vivid description of Jackson Street - identified as the Skid Row of Seattle - and the location of Seattle's Nikkei community. Yet Lee shows the dynamism of this working-class neighborhood - poor yet prosperous, multiethnic, and vibrant...Lee documents how Seattle's Nikkei negotiated their lives in productive and self-affirming ways that benefited themselves and their community while contributing to the overall growth and development of the city. Western Historical Quarterly, Spring 2012 The main strength of this study is its illumination of the challenges Japanese Americans faced as they tried to engage with claims of cosmopolitanism as well as with racism. Lee was praised for her use of new and lesser-known archival material, her original argument, and her compelling writing style. Claiming the Oriental Gateway is an important scholarly contribution to twentieth-century American history and Asian American history in particular. Journal of American History

Claiming the Oriental Gateway is an important contribution to the understanding of diversity of Japanese American experiences and a valuable contribution to the field of Asian American Studies, U.S. urban history, and U.S. western history. Karen Leong, author of The China Mystique: Pearl S. Buck, Anna May Wong, Mayling Soong Chiang, and the Transformation of American Orientalism

Author Information

Shelley Sang-Hee Lee is an Assistant Professor of Comparative American Studies and History at Oberlin College.

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