“I’m going to share things with you that my father couldn’t share for 40 years of his life.” Health and Wellness teacher Nora Yasumura was addressing the eighth grade students, who had been reading Julie Otsuka’s historical fiction When the Emperor Was Divine for their English class. The book is about an unnamed Japanese-American family sent to an internment camp from 1942 until 1945.

“Until I was a teenager, I never knew about the Japanese Incarceration during World War Two. There was nothing about it in my history books. But, when I was about 14 years old, my father told me that when he was a child, he was a prisoner in one of the camps.”

Sharing photographs of her father as boy, artifacts, newspaper clippings, and notices from this dark chapter in American history,  Ms. Yasumura provided students with real-life context to deepen their understanding of the novel they were reading. “It’s important to tell our stories, even though it’s not easy, so that we never forget our past and, hopefully, we learn from it.” added Ms. Yasumura. 

Two photos, taken decades apart: Matsuo “Muts” Yasumura in the Japanese incarceration camp in Arkansas; Ms. Yasumura and her father, Matuo “Muts” Yasumura 

The themes of identity and resilience are common threads throughout the IMS curriculum. Books that cover challenging, complex topics and the intense desire to hold onto one’s identity and culture can help teach empathy and also serve as a reminder that the persecution of marginalized people is not isolated to one moment in history.

Included in the eighth grade reading list is Maus, Art Spiegelman’s graphic novel about the Holocaust. Here, the English Department amplified the reading with the help of IMS Learning Specialist Susan Decker, whose parents and grandparents were Holocaust survivors. 

Students were able to look at her family’s passports, stamped with symbols of the Third Reich, and with middle names changed to “Sarah” or “Israel” by the government. One of the students said, “It is hard to see how much the world tried to erase their identity.”

Reflecting on the class, Ms. Decker said, “All of our international students have passports, and they know what it means to be identified by that document, so when I bring this piece of history to life for them, it emphasizes that it’s not just a page in a textbook.”

By learning about crisis times in history, not only through elegant prose in their English class texts, but also through the very real experience of someone they know, students are given a deeper understanding of identity, and the healing power of holding on to – and telling –  our stories.

The diverse makeup of IMS students adds another layer of richness to classroom discussions, opening a space for students to begin sharing their own family narratives. By reading these books in conjunction with real-life context, our students are given the tools to understand the weight of the past, and develop a deeper connection to the present.  

Nora Yasumura volunteers for an organization that focuses on healing for the Japanese-American community.  Learn more about Tsuru For Solidarity