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Toshio Mori

トシオ・モリ

Toshio Mori

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1910-03-03 （Oakland, California, U.S.）
Died
1980-04-12 （San Leandro, California, U.S.） age 70
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Residence History
San Leandro, California, U.S. (raised) → San Francisco Bay Area, California, U.S. (most of life)

Career

Occupations
Author, Short story writer
Active Years
1938-1980
Influenced By
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Akegarasu (Japanese Buddhist thinker)
Influenced
Later Japanese American writers (contributed to short fiction tradition)

Awards

American Book Award
1986
Work: Yokohama, California
Organization: Before Columbus Foundation
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Yokohama, California

1949 Short story collection

A collection of short stories portraying daily life and cultural tensions of Japanese Americans. The stories depict community life and identity before and after the war with warmth and accessibility.

IdentityFamilyImmigrant lifeHumor and pathos
Translations
  • 2nd edition (1985, University of Washington Press)

The Chauvinist and Other Stories

1979 Short story collection

A short story collection exploring human relationships and cultural friction through a variety of characters and situations, sometimes humorous and at times cynical.

Everyday conflictsCultural frictionCommunity

The Woman from Hiroshima

1980 Short pieces / novella-like work

Works set against the aftermath of Hiroshima and war, dealing with personal loss and memory, delving into the psyches of characters affected by war.

War and memoryLossReconciliation

Bibliography

  • Contribution to New Directions in Prose & Poetry, Otter Valley Press, 1938
  • Yokohama, California, Caxton Printers, 1949 (2nd ed. 1985)
  • Trek (edited journal at Topaz internment camp, 1942–1943)
  • Woman from Hiroshima, Isthmus Press, 1979
  • The Chauvinist and Other Stories, UCLA Asian American Studies Center, 1979

Adaptations

  • Radio episode "Baseball" (short radio script from "Lil' Yokohama", California Legacy Project)

Translations of Works

  • Yokohama, California (2nd ed., University of Washington Press, 1985)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Plain, accessible prose that portrays humanity through everyday momentsAn optimistic perspective (notably in some internment-era writings)Blend of humor and pathos
Recurring Motifs
Identity and assimilationFamily and neighborhood communityWar and internment memoryEveryday humor

Legacy

Toshio Mori is regarded as a pioneering writer of Japanese American short fiction and one of the earliest Japanese American authors to publish a book of fiction. His works about internment and community life hold an important place in studies of Japanese American literature.

In Popular Culture

  • Several short stories have been anthologized or adapted as short radio scripts.

Trivia

  • Born in Oakland in 1910 and raised in San Leandro.
  • Interned at Topaz War Relocation Center during WWII and edited the camp journal Trek.
  • Published Yokohama, California in 1949; the book was posthumously awarded an American Book Award in 1986.
  • Worked most of his life in the family nursery while continuing to write.