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Aug 19, 2026
WE HEREBY REFUSE
Japanese American Resistance to Wartime Incarceration with Bruce Rutledge
Summary
John talks to Bruce Rutledge, founder of Chin Music Press, about running an independent Asia-focused press, the origins of the company in Tokyo, and the move to Seattle, where Chin Music now has a bookstore in Pike Place Market. They talk about Chin Music’s highly successful graphic novel trilogy on the Japanese American incarceration experience during World War II. The wide-ranging conversation is an honest celebration of the challenges and pleasures of independent publishing.
Chin Music Press books mentioned in the episode include:
- Their very first book, an anthology called Kuhaku, published in 2005.
- Goodbye Madame Butterfly: Sex, Marriage and the Modern Japanese Woman by Sumie Kawakami (2007/2010)
- Japan’s Urushi Craftsmen: Can Old World Artistry Survive in the 21st Century by Bruce Rutledge (2020)
- When the Waves Came by Michael Larson (2020)
- WE HEREBY REFUSE : Japanese American Resistance to Wartime Incarceration by authors Frank Abe and Tamiko Nimura and illustrators Ross Ishikawa and Matt Sasaki (2021).
- Fighting for America: Nisei Soldiers by Lawrence Matsuda (Author) and Matt Sasaki (Artist)
- Those Who Helped Us: Assisting Japanese Americans During the War by Ken Mochizuki (Author) and Kiku Hughes (Illustrator)
- Seattle Samurai: A Cartoonist’s Perspective of the Japanese American Experience by Kelly Goto (Author) and Sam Goto (Drawings)
The Books on Asia Podcast is co-produced with Plum Rain Press.
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Books On Asia Podcast
Books on Asia is your guide to finding quality books on Japan and Asia. By offering thought-provoking content in the form of book excerpts, reviews, literary criticism, author interviews and a podcast, we hope to create an intelligent space for people to explore issues on Asia in-depth. We are a book recommendation site and we may make affiliate referral fees through the following online bookstores: Apple Books, Bookshop (U.S.) and Amazon. We recommend only books of the highest quality. We are a reader-based site, concerned with the wants and needs of those seeking to learn about Asia.
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