Bill Hosokawa

William Kunpei Hosokawa (Japanese: 細川 勲平, January 30, 1915 – November 9, 2007) was an American writer and journalist.

Of Japanese descent, while interned at the Heart Mountain Relocation Center, he was the editor of the internment camp's newspaper, The Heart Mountain Sentinel. After being freed from the camp in 1943, Hosokawa worked as a columnist and editor at The Denver Post for 38 years. He retired from the newspaper industry in 1992, at the age of 77.^[1]

Hosokawa was also a prolific author. His best-selling book Nisei: The Quiet Americans (1969) chronicles the experiences of second-generation Japanese Americans, known as Nisei.^[1] Hosokawa published his final work, Colorado's Japanese Americans: From 1886 to the Present (2005), when he was 90 years old.^[2] His other books include Out of the Frying Pan (1998), Thirty-Five Years in the Frying Pan (1978), Thunder in the Rockies (1976), The Two Worlds of Jim Yoshida (1972), and The Uranium Age (1955).

Hosokawa was a recipient of the 2007 Civil Rights Award from the Anti-Defamation League.^[3]

Early life

Bill Hosokawa was born on January 30, 1915, in

The Hosokawa family was sent first to an assembly center at the Puyallup, Washington fairgrounds where the family, along with others from the Seattle area, lived in horse stalls while the camps were being built. The family was moved to the Heart Mountain Relocation Center in Wyoming when he was 27 years old.^[2] Hosokawa's later writings and news reports were influenced by his time spent interned with fellow second-generation Japanese Americans, who were known as Nisei, and their children, such as his son, who were known as Sansei.^[1] Since Hosokawa had journalism and writing experience, he was appointed the editor of the Heart Mountain Relocation Camp newspaper, The Heart Mountain Sentinel.^[1]

Hosokawa and his family were released from the internment camp in 1943, so he could work as a copy editor at The Des Moines Register.^[2] However, the experience of internment stayed with Hosokawa. For more than 40 years Hosokawa published a column in the Pacific Citizen entitled From The Frying Pan.^[1] His column offered his personal observations on the internment of Japanese Americans. His topics included bigotry and what he called "native fascism".^[1] His later entries sometimes focused on parenthood and travel, but he usually stayed on the topic of discrimination.^[1]

Hosokawa finally received a position with a major

He left the Denver Post in 1984 and took a position as the reader ombudsman at the Rocky Mountain News, which was the archrival of the Denver Post.^[1] He remained with the Rocky Mountain News for eight years, until his retirement from the newspaper business in 1992.^[2]

Hosokawa worked to promote opportunities from Nisei and Sansei Japanese Americans during his career.

In 1987, Hosokawa received Japan's Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon.^[5]

Hosokawa received on honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of Denver in 1990 for his work in journalism and literature.^[2] In 2003, the Asian American Journalists Association presented Hosokawa with its lifetime achievement award for his work.^[2] Hosokawa was a recipient of the 2007 Civil Rights Award from the Anti-Defamation League.

Additionally, the Japan Society of Colorado sponsors a fellowship in the name of Bill and Alice Hosokawa's name.^[1]

Death

Bill Hosokawa died on November 9, 2007, at the age of 92 at the home of his daughter, Christie Harveson, in Sequim, Washington, where he had lived for the previous four months.^[2] Hosokawa's wife, Alice, died in 1998, while his youngest son, Peter, died in 2006.^[1] He was survived by his two daughters, Christie and Susan, his son, Michael, his brother, Robert Hosokawa, as well as eight grandchildren and seven great grandchildren.^[1][2] In a column published in the Denver Post on November 22, 2007, Hosokawa's colleague Fred Brown called him a "champion of civility, dignity and human rights".^[1]

A

[7]

References