Tooru J Kanazawa

Bio

(1906-2002) Novelist, journalist. Born in Spokane, Washington to newly arrived Japanese immigrants. His family moved to Alaska, and Kanazawa’s experiences there would serve as the basis for the acclaimed novel “Sushi and Sourdough,” which was published in 1989. The novel deals with Japanese-Americans in the Alaska gold rush at the end of the 19th century. Kanazawa eventually earned a journalism degree in 1931 from the University of Washington. After struggling as a journalist on the west coast Kanazawa moved to New York City in 1940. A year later, after Pearl Harbor, Kanazawa went to Washington, DC to fight for the right of Japanese-Americans to volunteer for duty in the armed services. The result was the famous 442nd Regimental Combat Team, which Kanazawa served on. It was widely decorated for its heroic performance in the line of fire. After the war, Kanazawa returned to New York City, where he took up the causes of civil rights and reparations to those who had been placed in internment camps during the war. He also ran a travel business and edited Hokubei Shimpo, a newspaper for the Japanese-American community within New York during the 1960s-70s. He wrote another novel, “Close Support,” based on his war experiences. He died in Topanga, California.