No-No Boy

Ichiro’s second day home begins with a violent argument with his mother and father. He wakes up, so frustrated he starts to scream, but tells his father nothing is wrong when his father asks. At the breakfast table, Ichiro’s mother explains why she walked out when the Kumasakas starting talking about their deceased son, Bobbie. She tells Ichiro that he is dead not because he was killed by the Japanese army but because his parents were not truly Japanese. Those who are truly Japanese would never fight against Japan, she says. Many claim to be Japanese but arenot, she says, not as she, her husband, and Ichiro are. If Ichiro had fought in the war, they all would have died because they would cease to be Japanese. Furious, Ichiro screams at his mother, calling her crazy, and drags her to a mirror to look at her reflection. Ichiro’s father attempts to stop the fight and Ichiro first shoves his mother to the ground then hits his father. His mother stands up and walks away without a word. Ichiro apologizes to his father, who says he understands and offers Ichiro some of the whiskey he immediately reaches for. He also gives Ichiro twenty dollars so he can go spend time with an old friend, Freddie.

Ichiro feels hopefully about visiting Freddie, whom he thinks will understand what he is going through. He finds Freddie’s apartment, knocks, and waits for an answer. While he is waiting, an adjacent apartment door opens and a plump, young Japanese woman appears, telling him with a coy smile that he and Freddie can both join her for breakfast. Freddie eventually answers his door, and his dishevelment bothers Ichiro. Freddie is no longer the worrying type he was before he too went to prison for not serving in the war. Instead, he talks about gambling, sleeping with the woman across the hall, and generally being an outcast because he refused to fight. While Ichiro tells him that they must “give it time,” Freddie is without hope and is after vices to help dull his pain.

After leaving Freddie’s apartment, Ichiro decides to travel around the city, wondering if it might still be possible for him to be accepted in this country of his birth, this country that he feels is his, which he loves. He isnot sure but decides to board a bus to visit the place he feels represents the best of America, a place worth fighting or dying for, though in his fear he had forgotten about it when standing before the judge. He travels to his old university and walks to the office of his former engineering professor. His professor welcomes him and tells him not to worry, that he will adjust to life at school again soon. The professor expresses his disgust over the Japanese internment and says Ichiro is as American as he is. The professor assumes Ichiro served in the military, and Ichiro doesnot correct him. Though the exchange is pleasant enough, Ichiro leaves the professor’s office feeling lonely and depressed.

As he continues aimlessly wandering around Seattle, visiting old haunts from happier days as a college student, Ichiro runs into an old friend, Kenji. They have coffee together and Ichiro notices that Ken walks painfully and with a cane. Ken then gives Ichiro a ride in his expensive new car, specially outfitted for his disability, which he received as recompense for his military injury. Ichiro asks Ken what happened, and Ken describes how his leg was partially shot off by a machine gun. After the first amputation, infection set in so repeat amputations were performed. Ken tells Ichiro that he likely has only two years before the infection finally kills him. Ichiro listens, wondering aloud whose future is more lonely and bleak. He confesses to Ken that he was a no-no boy but Ken doesnot judge him. Instead, he says he likes Ichiro, and they make plans to meet again that evening.

When Ichiro returns home, his brother, Taro, is playing solitaire while his father tries to talk to him. Ichiro’s mother is running the grocery and helping a customer but is also silently observing. Ichiro soon learns that Taro left school early because it is his eighteenthbirthday, meaning he can now enlist in the army. Though his father pleads with him to wait until June when he will graduate from high school, Taro refuses. He says he doesnot care what his mother thinks. In near tears, Taro tells Ichiro he doesnot know him and storms out. Ichiro’s mother utters a single muffled cry and Ichiro realizes that for her the strength of Japan has failed.