Home > No-No Boy Summary & Study Guide

No-No Boy | Introduction

No-No Boy, by John Okada, was first published in 1957. Set in Seattle after the end of World War II, it tells the story of Ichiro Yamada, a young Japanese American who refused to serve in the U.S. armed forces during the war and was consequently imprisoned for two years. Now, following his release, Ichiro regrets the decision he made and fears that as a “no-no” boy he has no future in the United States, in spite of the fact that he was born and educated there. During the two weeks in his life described in the novel, he gradually learns to put aside his self-hatred and rediscover a sense of hope and belonging.

No-No Boy made little impact on first publication, but interest in the novel grew in the 1970s, and in the early 2000s, it was established as one of the classic, pioneering Asian American novels. It opens a window on the Japanese American experience in the immediate postwar period, particularly on the generational conflict between the Issei (the first generation of Japanese immigrants, who were born in Japan) and the Nisei (the second generation, born in the United States), and the struggles of the Nisei to come to terms with their dual heritage. As such, the novel has relevance for the experience of many immigrant communities in the United States.

No-No Boy Summary

Preface
No-No Boy begins with a preface which explains that after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Japanese in the United States became the objects of hostility and suspicion. They were rounded up and sent to internment camps.

Chapter 1
In Seattle just after the end of World War II, Ichiro Yamada, a twenty-five-year-old Japanese American, steps off a bus. He has just returned home from two years in an internment camp for Japanese Americans and two years in prison for refusing to join the U.S. armed forces. As he walks down the street, he does not feel at home. An old Japanese American friend named Eto greets him. Eto served in the U.S. Army, and he turns hostile when he learns that Ichiro is a “no-no” boy. He said no to serving in the U.S. armed forces and also refused to swear allegiance to the United States. Ichiro turns away and continues walking along the street until he reaches home, a cramped space behind a grocery store, where his mother, father, and younger brother Taro live. His father greets him warmly, and then his mother returns from the bakery.

Ichiro is bitter about his experience. He feels he made the wrong choice and should have fought for the United States, the land of his birth, and he blames his mother for his wrong choice. He is at odds with both his parents, who have lived in the United States for thirty-five years but speak only Japanese. He is especially resentful of his mother. She insists on believing that Japan won the war and that a ship will soon be sent to take them back to Japan. Ichiro thinks his mother is crazy. He feels he is neither Japanese nor American, and this distresses him. He blames himself as well as his mother. Taro resents him; he plans to go into the army instead of college. The two brothers are like strangers to each other.

That evening Ichiro and his mother visit another Japanese family, the Ashidas. Like Ichiro’s mother, Mrs. Ashida believes that Japan won the war and a Japanese ship will take them back to Japan. Ichiro loathes her, and he persuades his mother that they should leave since it is getting late. They visit another Japanese family, the Kumasakas, who have purchased a home and seem reconciled to living in the United States. Ichiro inquires about their son Bob. He does not know that Bob was killed in the war, fighting in the U.S. Army. An army buddy of Bob’s named Jun explains how Bob was killed in action.

As they leave, Ichiro again reviews his reasons for not joining the army. He decides he was weak and unable to do what he should have done. Returning home at midnight, he finds his father, who has been drinking, still up. He says he has been celebrating Ichiro’s return. Ichiro finds out that unlike his mother, his father does not believe that Japan won the war. He has letters from relatives in Japan begging for help, asking for money, clothing, and food.

Chapter 2
At breakfast the next morning, Mrs. Yamada tells Ichiro that in reality it is Bob’s mother who is dead since she did not conduct herself like a Japanese, and since she is no longer Japanese, she is the equivalent of being dead. She insists that she and her husband remain Japanese and that Ichiro is Japanese, too. Angry, Ichiro calls her crazy, grips her wrists and starts to drag her across the room. When his father intervenes, Ichiro strikes him, knocking him against the wall. He immediately apologizes, and his father understands why Ichiro is so angry. He gives Ichiro money so he can visit his friend, Freddie. Freddie, who has been out of prison for five weeks and has developed a defiant attitude, is pleased to see him.

Chapter 3
Ichiro leaves Freddie and walks down the street, trying to determine his place in the United States, where he was born and educated. He hopes that over time there will be a place for... » Complete No-No Boy Summary