Hisaye Yamamoto

Hisaye Yamamoto- Biography

Yamamoto, Hisaye was a Japanese-American author. She is the well-known author of ‘Seventeen Syllables and Other Stories,’ a collection of short stories. In appreciation of her devotion and service to society, Google created a Google Doodle. Her work focuses mostly on Japanese immigrants, their experiences in America, the generation gap between Japanese immigrants and their children, and the challenging status of women in society at the time.

What is the Net Worth of Hisaye Yamamoto? Salary, Earnings

She was a key figure in bringing attention to the problems that Japanese immigrants endure, particularly in America. She received a renowned prize straight at the start of her career and became well-known all over the world. Although no specific figures concerning her exact fortune are accessible, it is clear that she made a good living from her successful career.

Hisaye Yamamoto- Birth, Age, Ethnicity, Siblings, Parents

Hisaye Yamamoto was born on August 23, 1921, in Redondo Beach, California. She was the daughter of Japanese strawberry farmers who had immigrated to the United States. She is the younger of two brothers. Yamamoto’s family traveled from place to place as a child since they were immigrants who were not allowed to own land. Yamamoto attended both Japanese and American schools, including Excelsior Union High School. She was enthralled by a variety of languages. She majored in French, Spanish, German, and Latin while at Compton Junior College.

Yamamoto has loved reading and writing since he was a child. She read just as much as she wrote. She began sending her writings, which included letters and brief essays, to the English sections of local Japanese American publications. Following the bombing of Pearl Harbor by Japanese forces in 1941, the United States issued the Japanese Relocation Order. It was to pick up Japanese Americans and send them to internment camps. Yamamoto and her family were transported to one of these camps in Poston, Arizona when she was 20 years old.

Quick Facts

Hisaye Yamamoto- Relationship, Married Life, Husband

Hisaye Yamamoto married Anthony DeSoto in 1955 and moved to Los Angeles. In the early 1950s, she adopted a son and relocated to New York, where she volunteered in the Catholic worker movement. She had four more children after her marriage. DeSoto, her husband, died in 2003. Yamamoto, who had been ill since having a stroke in 2012, died peacefully in her sleep on January 30, 2013.

Hisaye Yamamoto- Professional Career

Her first employment as a reporter and columnist was at the ‘Poston Chronicle,’ the camp’s newspaper. In 1943, she released her first literary piece, a serialized mystery called ‘Death Rides the Rails to Poston’ and a short tale called ‘Surely I Must Be Dreaming.’ The US government decided to relocate them while they were still in camp. Yamamoto and one of her brothers were sent to Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1944. She was employed as a cook for a wealthy widow there. When her second brother Johnny, a US army soldier, was reported murdered, they returned to Poston.

Then she spent three years at the camp, which changed her perspective on the world, injustice, hatred, and differences. Her time there had a significant impact on her writing career. The camps were decommissioned when World War II concluded in 1945. Yamamoto and her family were reunited with their families in Los Angeles. She started working for the ‘Los Angeles tribune’ there, first as a columnist, then as an editor, and last as a field reporter. This was an African-American-only weekly publication. She was able to investigate racial relations and broaden her writing throughout her tenure at Tribune.

Raise to Fame

Her poems have been related to the haiku poetry form. Her writing style is sensitive, emotional, delicate, but also blunt and frugal, wonderfully capturing her Japanese roots while incorporating a modern twist. Seventeen Syllables was initially released in 1988, and it contains all of her works written since World War II ended. “Yoneko’s Earthquake,” “The Legend of Miss Sasagawara,” and “The Brown House” are among the works included in this collection. The experiences of Issei (first-generation Japanese immigrants) and their Nisei offspring are the focus of these stories. The Japanese internment camps of World War II are also mentioned in these stories.

Her stories ‘Seventeen Syllable’ and ‘Las Vegas Charley,’ among others, have explored the divide between first and second-generation immigrants. As seen in ‘The High Heeled Shoes,’ she also created stories on women’s repression in Japanese and American societies. Yoneko’s Earthquake was chosen as one of the Best American Short Stories in 1952. For her work, she received the ‘Before Columbus Foundation’s American Book Award for lifetime accomplishment in 1986.

Body Measurements: Height, Weight, Hair color

Hisaye Yamamoto stands 4 ft 10 inches tall and weighs 48 kg. Furthermore, She has Brown hair and Dark Brown eyes.

Social Media Details

Hisaye Yamamoto does not have an official presence on social media platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok.

Trivia

• She was one of the first Asian American writers to receive literary recognition after WWII.
• As part of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, Google will commemorate her with a doodle on May 4, 2021, and her work will be held up as a model.
• In the 1991 American Playhouse special ‘Hot Summer Winds,’ Yamamoto’s ‘Seventeen Syllables’ and ‘Yoneko’s earthquake’ were adapted.
• She was regarded as one of the best Asian-American writers.
• Hisaye began writing under the pseudonym ‘Napoleon.’
• At the age of 89, she passed away.
• When Asian American scholars began researching her work in the 1970s, her work was acknowledged for its talent.

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