As a historical novel, Hotel on the Corner of Sweet and Bitter[1] alludes to many events, people, places, government acts and organizations that confirm the the veracity of the novel using history. The book covers the period 1941-1986, a period of over forty years. During this time, Henry witnesses the tragedy of World War II, the tensions between Chinese and Japanese, Americans and Asians. His eyes are opened to racial prejudice and pure hatred. Japanese internment accentuates tensions. At first, as a pre-adolescent of just 12 years old, he little understands the repercussions of falling in love with Keiko, a Japanese girl. However, time does not prevent them from finally reuniting after Ethel's death. Historical accuracy is essential in the construction of a novel where the author wants to make a story realistic and therefore credible. This technique is called verisimilitude, where a strong semblance of truth is present in the narrative. Some correctly applied time references are the attack on Pearl Harbor (1941), Executive Order 9066 (1942), Executive Order 9102 (1942), the establishment of the Republic of China (1912), and the Japanese invasion of Manchuria (1931). These allusions aid in temporal localization and establish historical veracity as Henry revisits his past and desperately clings to any remnants of people and things he holds dear. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The author, Jamie Ford, skillfully weaves together historical data through conversations characters have with each other, magazines and newspapers, laws and government acts, and the pivotal events that take place during World War II. The characters also represent different generations of Asian Americans, for example Henry who is a young boy in the 1940s, Henry's father who is a first generation Chinese immigrant, and Marty who is Henry's descendant. Different from all of them, Marty expresses himself freely, intends to marry a Caucasian woman, and shares liberal views that contrast sharply with the traditional values ​​that Henry espouses and values. “The old Seattle landmark was a place he had visited twice in his life. The first time when he was only 12 years old back in 1942... the second time was today. It was 1986." (Ford 3) Set primarily in Seattle, Washington, the setting and location are also important temporal markers as in the space of the novel (1942-1986), Ford mentions buildings, schools, and centers that are still standing today or have been destroyed due to their decaying state and the price of modernization. The Hotel at the Corner of Bittersweet, now called the Panama Hotel[2], the Nippon Kan Theater, Japantown, and Camp Minidoka (one of the Japanese internment camps), all confirm the historical claims of the novel. Nihonmachi or Seattle's Japantown is a major city in Seattle, Washington. Here, the love story between Henry and Keiko unfolds and shows the geographical and physical relationship between Japanese and Chinese in America. Due to the large number of Japanese immigrants, Nihonmachi is called Japantown to rival China's Chinatown. The location clearly depicts the separation and in the novel it is seen that Henry and Keiko are separated. Henry, a Chinese man, was forbidden by his parents from going to Japantown and thus physical and racial boundaries are established. The Nippon Kan Theater is a theater located in what was Japantown in Seattle, Washington, celebrated for its plays aimed at promoting Japanese culture. The Nippon Kan Theater was built in 1909 and closed at the time of the Japanese internment in 1942. At the beginning of the story, Henry states that the theater wasBoarded up and abandoned, mourning the relocation of the Japanese away from military bases. Camp Minidoka and Camp Harmony are Japanese camps[3] where Keiko stays and where Henry visits her (Exploring Internment of Japanese Americans). Both camps are historically accurate locations and fit perfectly into the World War II era. Camp Harmony, founded in 1942 in Washington, housed arrested Japanese destined for internment. The Minidoka Camp or War Relocation Center in Idaho operated from 1942 to 1945, the last three years of World War II.[4] Most of the Japanese-American prisoners at Camp Minidoka were imported from Washington, so it is not at all imaginable that residents of Japantown, Seattle, Washington were arrested and taken to Camp Minidoka. The Hotel at the Corner of Sweet and Bitter, from which the novel takes its name, is a historic hotel built by Sabro Ozasa, a Japanese architect. The Panama Hotel, located in Seattle, Washington, was completed in 1910 and housed and entertained many Japanese immigrants until 1950. The Panama Hotel, during Henry's second visit, was rebuilt (since 1985) and is open for business again (Historic Panama Hotel). Government acts, statutes, and laws also allow the reader to classify the time and confirm the historical value of the novel. “The father believed in a government of the people but was wary of who those people were” (Ford 68). This novel, The Hotel on the Corner of Bittersweet, does not embrace a very sympathetic view of governments. All the characters have some reason to distrust the Chinese, Japanese, or American governments. Henry explains the origins of Chinese and Japanese migration, referring to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882[5]. This act banned Chinese immigrants from entering the United States, reducing the cost of labor and taking jobs away from Americans. This act of exclusion is one of the first to openly discriminate against Asians in America. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 also opened the doors to Japanese immigrants because, since Chinese labor was banned in the United States, American businesses that, as Henry explained, needed cheap labor had Japanese workers work for them. These historical facts also partly explain the reason for racial tensions and general dislike of Japanese-Chinese relations in America. American anti-miscegenation laws[6] in place since the mid-1800s also prevented interracial marriages (anti-miscegenation laws). Henry himself tells his son Marty, who is marrying a white woman, that their union would have been impossible if they had been in his time. These anti-interracial laws applied to all American minorities, including blacks, Indians, and Asians (Asian American and anti-miscegenation statutes). Government Executive Orders[7] 9102 and 9066 operated against Japanese-Americans during World War II (Robinson: By order of the President). In 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9102 which established the War Relocation Authority, authorized to remove all Japanese Americans from their homes and place them in new "homes" with the goal of moving them away from major U.S. military bases. The government feared that, following the 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor, Japanese Americans were conspiring with the Axis forces of Germany, Italy, and Japan (Attack on Pearl Harbor). Because of these suspicions, Japanese Americans were imprisoned and then removed from military bases. Executive Order 9066 of 1942 was another order commissioned by the President of the United States, Franklin Roosevelt, which essentially stripped Japanese Americans of their right to live wherever they wanted and consigned them to internment camps (Ng:Japanese American Internment). It should be noted that NAS Seattle's air base was in Seattle, Washington; therefore the relocation operations instigated against populations of Japanese origin aimed to move them from strategic military bases in light of the attack on Pearl Harbor, a major American military base (Pearl Harbor Review). Organizations also provide a necessary key to determining historicity. Ford, using Henry, mentions in the novel the Mutual BroadcastingSystem, Hokubei Jiji, the Bing Kung Association, and the Chong Wa Benevolent Association which were functional and active during World War II. The Mutual Broadcasting System was a radio media company that began broadcasting news in 1934 and entertained many with popular programs such as The Adventures of Superman. Henry is an avid fan of the Mutual Broadcasting System because he enjoys listening to stories of his favorite character, Superman or as he calls him "the son of Krypton". In 1999 MBS had to stop all broadcasts and closed its doors. Hokubei Jiji, the old newspaper, which Henry picks up and reads when he is in the basement of the Hotel, is historically accurate. The Hokubei Jiji[8] or The North American Times existed from 1902 to 1942, and according to what Henry sees on the front lines, March 12, 1942 was indeed its last issue. The location is in Seattle, Washington, which makes it a respectable historical novel. The magazine was named after the publisher who was Hokubei Jijisha. The Bing Kung Association was an organization based in Seattle, Washington that included a network of Chinese gang members. Henry reports that his father also belongs to the Bing Kung Association. This group was known for multiple murders. Bing Kung is a subcategory of California-based Bing Kong Tongs. The Chong Wa Benevolent Association is a Sino-American body established since 1915 to promote good networking among Chinese at home and abroad. He also serves as an ambassador of Chinese culture to America. China became a Republic on January 1, 1912, effectively ending years of imperial rule and dynasty. Henry's father mentions Chinese Republic Day[9] as a comparison to the executive orders written against the Japanese. This connection reveals the underlying resentment of the Chinese towards the Japanese and expresses the fact that the Chinese community triumphed over Japanese internment. Henry's father informs him more about China's Republic Day and the revolutionary who brought China to republicanism, Sun Yat-sen[10]. Being very nationalistic and attentive to all things Chinese, Henry's father represents the traditional Chinese immigrant with his prejudices against Japan and loyalties still tied to China. This national bigotry between Chinese and Japanese is historical especially because the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945) is ongoing during the time of the novel (Seattle Times). It is difficult to shake the state of war of the times when reading Hotel on the corner between the sweet and the bitter. America and Japan are both engaged in war. In particular, the American-Japanese conflicts and tensions that culminated in the Second World War have their roots in the long Sino-Japanese wars[11] and the bombing of Pearl Harbor. “While Denny stood on the corner and painted 'Go Home Japs!' on the American flags posted in the windows, “I told you it was a Jap inside” (Ford 99). Tensions between America and Japan increased when Japan, in an attempt to annex it into its expanding empire, was on a mission to conquer land. Likewise, Japan's ally Germany (Hitler and his forces) had ambitions to expand the German empire to include all of Europe, while Japan, its ally, wanted to gain more territory and power witha new aggression against China. Henry's father, a Chinese-American, reacts angrily when he learns of the fatal Japanese bombing. These actions did not improve the general feeling towards the Japanese in America because they now had to deal with Americans and Chinese-Americans who despised them. Although innocent of Japan's actions, people of Japanese descent faced further prejudice, racism, and anger due to the martial times. They were called derogatorily, "Japs". Furthermore, we clearly see that a differentiation was made between Japanese identity and American identity, since being Japanese meant not being American. Patriotism has been reduced to showing prejudice towards alleged common criminals. When Henry sympathizes with the Japanese who have been treated badly, his neighbor accuses him of being "a Japanese inside". In summary, time, place, and infrastructure all play a role in authenticating the story of the novel, giving the reader ample evidence that the events narrated in the story are not fictional. The novel, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, is permeated with both bitter and sweet elements, full of memories and regrets. After his wife's death, Henry's nostalgia gets the better of him as he travels to ancient places, rummages through old relics left behind by supposedly imprisoned Japanese immigrants, and reflects poignant events from his life as a boy living through the horrors of World War II world. . For Henry, history traces the past and paves the way for the future as he has come to be the man he is through past circumstances and decisions. Works Cited: Anti-Miscegenation Laws http://www2.facinghistory.org/campus/rm .nsf/0/6279243C0EEE444E85257037004EA259>Asian Americans and Anti-Miscegenation Statutes < http://academic.udayton.edu/race/01race/aspi02 .htm>Attack on Pearl Harbor Bombing of Chongqing Dorn, Frank. The Sino-Japanese War from Marco Polo to Pearl Harbor 1937-194. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1974 Exploring Japanese-American Internment Historic Panama Hotel Japanese-American Internment Camps Ng, Wendy L. Japanese-American Internment During World War II: A History and Reference Guide. Greenwood Publishing Group, Connecticut, 2002.Pearl Harbor Review – Pearl Harbor Robinson, Greg. By Order of the President: FDR and the Internment of Japanese Americans. Library Congressional Cataloging in Publication Data, 2001. Seattle Times: Tea and Treasures (Historic Panama Hotel) Second Sino-Japanese War Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945) Sino-Japanese Relations: Conflict Management and Resolution [1] Ford, Jamie. Hotel on the corner between sweet and bitter. (New York: Random House Publishing Group, 2009)[2] Takami, David A. Divided Destiny: A History of Japanese Americans in Seattle (Seattle, University of Washington Press, 1999).[3] Inada, Lawson. Only What We Could Take With Us: The Experience of Japanese American Internment (Berkeley: Heyday Books, 2000).[4] Hanel, Rachel. Japanese-American Internment: An Interactive Adventure in History (Minnesota, Capstone Press, 2008)[5] Daniels, Roger. Otis L. Graham. Debate on American immigration from 1882 to the present. (London: Rowman and Little Field Publishers Inc, 2001)[6] What Comes Naturally Miscegenation Law and the Making of Race in America (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009)[7] McClain, Carlo. The Mass Internment of Japanese Americans and the Search for Legal Redress (Berkeley: University of California, 2000)[8] Soga, Keiho. Life Behind Barbed Wire: Memoirs of World War II Internment (University of Hawaii Press: 2008)[9] The Encyclopedia Americana (Danbury, Conn: Grolier Incorporated, 1988)[10] Bergere, Marie-Claire. Janet., 1997.