William K. Hosokawa

Journalist and newspaper editor

• Pronunciation: koom-PI ho-so-KAH-wah
• Born: January 30, 1915
• Birthplace: Seattle, Washington
• Died: November 9, 2007
• Place of death: Denver, Colorado

Considered a pioneer in journalism, William K. Hosokawa was one of the first Asian American foreign correspondents. A former internee at Heart Mountain Relocation Center, Hosokawa wrote a book on the conditions and experiences of such camps. He moved on to become a war correspondent and, eventually, a senior editor of the Denver Post.

Areas of achievement: Journalism, social issues

Early Life

William Kumpai Hosokawa was born in Seattle, Washington, in 1915. His parents were Japanese immigrants. After graduating from Garfield High School, Hosokawa attended the University of Washington, where he studied journalism, receiving a bachelor’s degree in 1937. As Hosokawa was preparing to graduate, he was encouraged by an adviser not to pursue a job as a reporter. The Depression and the growing anti-Asian sentiment that existed during that period made it extremely difficult to find work in the western United States, particularly for a Japanese American. Hosokawa took a job as a secretary at the Japanese consulate in Seattle.

After a year, Hosokawa left the consulate and took a job in Singapore, where he worked for an English-language newspaper. In 1940, he and his wife moved to Shanghai, China, where he worked for a British-owned English newspaper, The Shanghai Times, and an American publication, The Far Eastern Review. During that time, growing conflict with the Japanese led the US consulate to ask nonessential Americans to leave China.

Life’s Work

In 1941, Hosokawa and his wife returned to Seattle. Shortly after his return, the Japanese attacked the US naval base at Pearl Harbor, prompting the US government to detain and relocate residents of Japanese descent living in the United States. Hosokawa, his wife, and their newborn son were sent first to an internment camp in Puyallup, Washington, and then to Heart Mountain Relocation Center in Wyoming. While at Heart Mountain, Hosokawa and another internee established a newspaper to keep the hundreds of other internees informed about events inside and outside the encampment. The paper was controversial, often criticizing camp conditions and those who ran it, including national leaders.

When Hosokawa and his family were released from Heart Mountain in 1943, Hosokawa first went to work at the copy desk of the Des Moines Register in Iowa before settling in at the Denver Post, where he remained for twenty-five years. During his tenure, he became one of the first Asian American foreign correspondents, covering the wars in Korea and Vietnam. In 1961, he was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for his work covering student riots in Japan.

In 1969, Hosokawa wrote Nisei: The Quiet Americans, a historical account of the Japanese American prewar and wartime experience, particularly for those who were sent to internment camps. The book served as an important reference for the congressional panel that investigated the wartime incarceration and internment of Japanese Americans.

Hosokawa wrote nine other books during his career, in addition to the countless articles he wrote for the Denver Post and later the Rocky Mountain News. In 1974, he was awarded the position of honorary consul general of Japan for the state of Colorado, a post he held until 1999. In addition to the Pulitzer Prize nomination and honorary consul status, Hosokawa was recognized by the Colorado branch of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA). Furthermore, he has been enshrined in the halls of fame of both the Denver Press Club and the American Association of Sunday and Feature Editors.

Significance

Hosokawa is considered a pioneer in journalism, defying the prejudices of prewar America. He became one of the first Asian American foreign correspondents, covering the brutality of both the Korean and Vietnam wars. For twenty-five years, Hosokawa was also a strong advocate for relations between the people of the United States and Japan.

While interned at Heart Mountain, Hosokawa stood against what he viewed as injustice and empowered fellow internees with the courage to do the same. His book Nisei is considered a rare but important historical account of a chapter of modern history with which few Americans are familiar.

Bibliography

Beninato, Stefanie. “Colorado’s Japanese Americans: From 1886 to the Present.” Journal of the West (Summer 2006): 116–17. Print. Reviews Hosokawa’s book Colorado’s Japanese Americans and cites Hosokawa’s chronicle of life as a Japanese immigrant to the United States during the late nineteenth century and the issues Japanese Americans faced upon their arrival in the country.

Hosokawa, Bill. Nisei: The Quiet Americans. 2nd ed. Boulder: UP of Colorado, 2002. Print. One of the best-known of Hosokawa’s works. Provides a historical review of the Japanese American experience prior to the war and during wartime internment.

---. “William Hosokawa: Heart Mountain.” And Justice for All: An Oral History of the Japanese American Detention Camps. Ed. John Tateishi. Seattle: U of Washington P, 1999. 18–22. Print. A chapter describing Hosokawa’s experiences as an internee at Heart Mountain Relocation Center.