Gaman
The Story of a Japanese American Prisoner in a War That Never Ended
Gaman is a word
that means strength in Japanese
within the silence
there is no yellow peril
only the courage to be
​
Kenichi K. Yabusaki (Ken) was born a prisoner of war in an American concentration camp in Minidoka, Idaho. When President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s signed Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942, approximately 120,000 people of Japanese descent primarily on the West Coast were forced into ten main concentration camps across the continental US with no due process.
The demoralizing effects of that horror in American history remained with those who survived, Ken tells how it affected the lives of his grandparents, his parents, his sister, and himself. Ken tells how he fought the misguided racism in “Yellow Peril” using the Japanese practice of gaman (silently enduring the seemingly unbearable with patience and dignity) and shö ga nai (referring to something that can’t be helped, it’s out of one’s control)—powerful words filled with meaning, perseverance, and resilience—as his sword and shield.
This book is about what Ken Yabusaki did with the war that never ended, how he met the love of his life, served his country in the Army during the Vietnam War, raised a family, became an accomplished biochemist, advocates for civil rights, and how he found nature within himself through fly fishing.
Today, Minidoka where Ken was born is a national historical site and like the other main concentration camps is a testimonial of what racism, fear, war hysteria, political motives, and unchecked power did to innocent Americans.
Although Minidoka was about perpetrators and victims, it provided an opportunity to survive oppression. It opened the doors to Ken’s coming of age, growing up on Jackson Street in Seattle, experiencing the deaths of family members, and learning about an unknown sister. His parents were people of few words but understood that holding grudges killed the human spirit. They lived what sages often say, “It’s not what happens to you, but what you do with what happens to you.”
"Captivating and seductive exploration... escaping the prisons of his past, struggling to find acceptance, and, finally, his true path in life."
LANE NISHIKAWA, writer, actor, director, and movie producer
"[Gaman] is a must read for anyone who is interested in the life following a major injustice against a race."
SAM MIHARA, writer, historian, and educator, winner of the Salem Award for Human Rights and Social Justice (2023), National Endowment for the Humanities, Jefferson Lecturer (2025)
“Much more than a memoir; Yabusaki depicts the challenges of navigating an American culture saturated in racism, alongside the quiet resilience and strength of his fellow Japanese Americans. His writing provides cultural backdrop for readers that explores not just his own heritage, but the roots, traditions, and legacies of Japanese immigrants in general. . . . a meaningful glimpse of American culture during the mid-20th century.”
BOOKLIFE