One Book, One Coast – ‘They Called Us Enemy’ by George Takei

One Book, One Coast (OBOC) is a multi-state community reading initiative that invites readers to engage with a shared text through discussion, activities and reflection.

Our inaugural selection is They Called Us Enemy (2019), opens a new window, a graphic memoir by George Takei that recounts his childhood experience of incarceration alongside more than 120,000 people of Japanese descent, most of whom were U.S. citizens, following Executive Order 9066, opens a new window in 1942. 

They Called Us Enemy

Related Events

Blue Skies, Troubled Waters: a WWII Story of Resilience - Thursday, May 07 from 4:00pm–5:00pm at Oak Harbor Library
Join Northwest co-author Brian Kimmel for a powerful presentation on his grandmother's incredible true story of survival. Blue Skies, Troubled Waters begins with a dramatic leap into Brooklyn Harbor and follows an American twin's journey through deportation, a WWII POW camp in Indonesia, and her family's ultimate return. Using historical photos and a short video introduction from his 95-year-old grandmother, Brian will share this profound story of resilience and a side of Pacific War history rarely told.

Blue Skies, Troubled Waters

One Book, One Coast with George Takei - Sunday, May 31 from 2:00pm–4:00pm Online 
Join LA County Librarian and Director, Dr. Skye Patrick, and Long Beach Public Library Director, Cathy de Leon, in conversation with actor, author, and activist George Takei in celebration of One Book, One Coast!

Watch Party: One Book, One Coast with George Takei - Sunday, May 31 from 2:00pm–4:00pm at Monroe Library
Join us at the Monroe Library as we watch LA County Librarian and Director, Dr. Skye Patrick, and Long Beach Public Library Director, Cathy de Leon, in conversation with George Takei.

Learn More

If you were moved by They Called Us Enemy, consider taking your reading a step further. Visit local heritage sites across Western Washington that share the history of Japanese-American incarceration during World War II and continue exploring the stories through books and films from your library that connect to these places and the people who lived through this time in history.

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Visit the Nakashima Heritage Barn

32325 WA-9, Arlington, WA 98223 (North Trailhead, opens a new window of the Centennial Trail)

Step onto land shaped by generations of local history at Nakashima Farm, where early 1900s farming roots connect to the legacy of both Seattle pioneer A. A. Denny and the Japanese American Nakashima family who later ran a dairy here. Today, visitors can explore the park and see the historic 1908 barn, which is listed on the Washington State Heritage Barn Registry and recognized as the state’s first heritage barn associated with an Asian American farming family, while reflecting on the land’s history of resilience, community, and change.

Then Read Beneath the Wide Silk Sky by Emily Inouye Huey

Beneath the Wide Silk Sky - With the recent death of her mother and the possibility of her family losing their farm, Samantha Sakamoto does not have space in her life for dreams, but when faced with prejudice and violence in her Washington State community after Pearl Harbor, she is determined to use her photography to document the bigotry around her.

Visit the Japanese Memorial at Centennial Park

Dedicated on June 9, 2000, this monument honors Mukilteo’s early Japanese immigrant community and the town’s legacy of cultural harmony. Centered around a bronze origami crane symbolizing peace and hope, the sculpture commemorates the Japanese American mill workers who came seeking a better life and stands today as a lasting tribute to their contributions and the community they helped shape.

Then Watch Snow Falling on Cedars

Snow Falling on Cedars - As a Japanese-American fisherman stands trial for murder on an island in Puget Sound, snow blankets the countryside. The whiteness covers the courthouse, but it cannot conceal the memories at work inside: the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II, an unrequited love, and the ghosts of racism that still haunt the islanders. Based on the book by Dan Guterman. Rated PG-13.

Visit the Bainbridge Island Japanese Exclusion Memorial

4195 Eagle Harbor Drive NE, Bainbridge Island, WA 98110

Climb aboard a Washington State Ferry to visit this powerful tribute to the 276 Japanese and Japanese American residents forced from their homes during World War II. Overlooking Eagle Harbor at the historic Eagledale Ferry Dock, the memorial’s cedar Story Wall and striking sculptures honor the community’s resilience and has been telling the story of incarceration, loss, and return since its founding in 2011.

Then Read No Quiet Water by Shirley Miller Kamada

No Quiet Water - After the U.S. declares war on Japan in 1941, all persons of Japanese descent in the Western U.S. come under suspicion. Despite the fact that two generations of the Miyota family are American citizens, Fumio and his parents and sister Kimiko must pack meager belongings and are transported under military escort to the California desert to be held at Camp Manzanar, leaving their good friends and neighbors the Whitlocks to care for their farm.

Walk the Japanese American Remembrance Trail

719 S. King Street, Seattle, WA 98104

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Start your journey at the Wing Luke Museum, opens a new window and explore the Japanese American Remembrance Trail, opens a new window, a self-guided urban walk through Seattle’s historic Japantown. Discover dozens of past and present locations that tell the story of Seattle’s Japanese American community, from early settlement and World War II incarceration to the vibrant cultural life that continues today.

Then Read Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet - Forty years after losing his childhood love to the incarceration camps of World War II, Henry Lee explores the Panama Hotel's basement for a long-lost object whose value he cannot even begin to measure. His search will take him on a journey to revisit the sacrifices he has made for family, for love, for country.

Take a Tour of the Northwest Nikkei Museum

1414 S Weller Street, Seattle, WA 98144

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This virtual tour, opens a new window explores highlights from its special collections and exhibits at the Japanese Cultural & Community Center of Washington campus. The online tour features powerful displays on Japanese American incarceration, including Genji Mihara: An Issei Pioneer, opens a new window, The Hunt Hotel Exhibit, opens a new window, and Prejudice and Pride: The Faces of Executive Order 9066.

Then Read Nisei Daughter by Monica Sone

Nisei Daughter - With charm, humor, and deep understanding, Monica Sone tells what it was like to grow up Japanese American on Seattle's waterfront in the 1930s and to be subjected to "relocation" during World War II. Along with over one hundred thousand other persons of Japanese ancestry--most of whom were U.S. citizens--Sone and her family were uprooted from their home and imprisoned in a camp.

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