<Begin Segment 5>

FA: Jimmie, you, Current Life was well-known for hiring Nisei fiction writers, the whole literary scene. Why did you do that, go out of your way to find the writers?

JO: Well, I thought that the Nisei talent in the literary field was the strongest, that is, based upon their writings in vernacular newspapers, you know, New Year's special or something like that. And I thought that would be the best way to reach a bigger audience, is to show that these people had the same type of ability and talent as the greater, wider field enjoyed. And instead of trying to consider us as simply laborers, you know, the lowest rank or something like that, we were a lot more than laborers, you know. Or so I felt.

FA: Did you find an audience for that?

JO: Yes, I thought we found a great audience. From, well, the letters we received from all around the country, even outside the country, indicated that they appreciated this type of a publication. And we were particularly proud of the fact that the universities and the public libraries from one coast to the other subscribed to it or expressed great interest in the magazine. And of course we were really proud when the Library of Congress became a subscriber, we were the first Asian journal on the mainland to be accepted on the subscription rolls of the Library of Congress. We were proud of that. [Laughs]

FA: Inside the Japanese American community, was it well-read or received?

JO: Well, it was very favorably received, but according to the, their reviews of the magazine each month, but actually we weren't aiming to, aiming for a large subscription among the Japanese themselves. They were, we were speaking about them carrying the message to a wider field; not trying to reach the Nisei themselves. We were going to reach them but we did not concentrate on them.

[Interruption]

FA: The 442 was also a means of trying to show the wider audience that we were just like them in a way. A different approach, maybe, do you know what I mean?

JO: Uh-huh. Well, I have nothing against the 442 except if you tell me that they went to battle because of their fidelity to the Constitution, I wouldn't agree with you one bit.

FA: Why do you feel that they went to battle?

JO: Well, I think when people go to battle in particularly trying circumstances like this, that it's each man's choice, I don't criticize them for going just like I don't think that the criticism is valid when you attack the wartime resisters. For one, the resisters were standing up for their constitutional rights, the other felt that it was the patriotic thing to do, I suppose. I don't know, I wasn't one of them.

<End Segment 5> - Copyright © 1990, 2005 Frank Abe and Densho. All Rights Reserved.