Community
April 3, 2017
THE ASIAN REPORTER n Page 11
“Yellow Terror” exhibit shows dangers
of stereotypes, teaches critical thinking
“Yellow Terror: The Collections
and Paintings of Roger Shimomura”
On view April 11 through July 16, 2017
Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center
121 N.W. Second Avenue, Portland
By Ryan Nakano
The Asian Reporter
ellow Terror.
It’s the stereotypical Fu Manchu
Halloween mask. It’s the old “Jap
Hunting License” bought and sold. It’s the
grouping of several ethnic backgrounds
and cultures into a common enemy with a
toothy barbaric grin and slanted eyes.
It’s also the name of an art exhibit on
view at the Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center
(ONLC) in Portland. “Yellow Terror”
showcases original paintings and a
collection of World War II propaganda by
Roger Shimomura, a Seattle-based
contemporary artist whose work often
plays off Asian stereotypes and American
iconography in a kind of satirical pop art
where east meets west.
Shimomura, who spent years of his
childhood behind barbed-wire fences
during the internment of more than
120,000 Americans of Japanese descent
during World War II, recounts the
nationalistic fervor and fear that spread
throughout the country and worked its
way into the everyday lives of citizens with
“Slap a Jap” postcards, ornate “Oriental”
salt-and-pepper shakers, and more.
“It is my sincerest hope that this body of
material will serve as an effective meta-
phor for all types of racial stereotyping, for
our government has shown that during
times of national crises, lessons of past
injustices to its own citizens are usually
forgotten,” Shimomura wrote to conclude
the exhibit’s artist statement back in 2006,
when the display first found its way into
the Wing Luke Museum of the Asian
Pacific American Experience in Seattle’s
Chinatown-International District.
Now — 11 years later, on the heels of two
travel bans issued in executive orders
signed by President Donald Trump and
the 75th anniversary of Executive Order
9066 signed by President Franklin D.
Roosevelt, which ordered the forced
removal and internment of people of
Japanese ancestry — Shimomura’s
statement has resurfaced, standing the
test of time.
“It turns out to be quite accurate, at
times of stress, and I think that one would
have to agree that these are times of stress,
in this case, that the top executive of the
country has forgotten these lessons. When
asked about [internment] camps, he said
he might agree with that decision,”
Shimomura told The Asian Reporter.
“That in itself is still an outrage.”
In turn, Shimomura reawakens the
outrageous images that have historically
been used against people of Asian descent
in the United States in the condensed
exhibit currently housed at ONLC, a space
dedicated to preserving and sharing the
history and culture of the Japanese-
American community in Oregon and the
greater Pacific Northwest.
Underneath the glass of a display case,
an ashtray reads “Jam your cigarette butts
in this rat,” referring to its cartoon
depiction of a swastika, rising sun, and
sinister-looking rodent with slanted eyes
and a knife in hand.
Across the room, there’s a wall. On the
wall hang rows of vintage Halloween
masks — a retro display of Asian
stereotypes for mass consumption.
Then, of course, there are Shimomura’s
Y
SHOWCASING STEREOTYPES. “Yellow Terror: The Collections and Paintings of Roger Shimomura,”
an exhibit of Shimomura’s paintings — which challenge the role of media and material culture in defining the
American norm — as well as his collection of memorabilia and objects depicting racial stereotypes of Asians
and Asian Americans accumulated during the last 20 years, is scheduled to be on view at the Oregon Nikkei
Legacy Center in Portland from April 11 through July 16. Shimomura, who spent years of his childhood behind
barbed-wire fences during the internment of more than 120,000 Americans of Japanese descent during World
War II, recounts the nationalistic fervor and fear that spread throughout the country and worked its way into the
everyday lives of citizens with “Slap a Jap” postcards, ornate “Oriental” salt-and-pepper shakers (left photo),
vintage Halloween masks (right photo), and more. (AR Photos/Ryan Nakano)
paintings
which,
much
like
the exhibit were largely surprised that these
propaganda from the war, are bold, sorts of images were acceptable. Many
vibrant, colorful, full of life, and, of course, called them disgusting and racist,” said
Cynthia Basye, the education manager for
full of stereotypes.
In “eBay Citizen #2,” Shimomura the Oregon Nikkei Endowment. “For the
centralizes the iconic yellow face, squinty older Nikkei who come to view the exhibit,
eyes, and bucktooth grin of Dick Tracy it still hurts for them to see the images.
sidekick Joe Jitsu, who became One woman walked in and said ‘I don’t like
popularized in 1961 for his catchphrase this’ and walked out.”
In a way, the exhibit is a reminder of a
“So solly!” and “Excuse, prease” in the
kind of terror. The paintings, the
animated version of the comic.
And yet, by title alone, Shimomura propaganda, the panels of historical
works to decentralize the character, context Shimomura addresses through his
thereby recognizing that the Joe Jitsu art and his collections are terrifying
depiction is not an isolated incident, but
just one citizen among many who has
captured the public eye and in turn
perpetuated a stereotype to be branded
and sold to the highest bidder as one might
find on an online buying-and-selling
service such as eBay — the same place
Shimomura purchased many of the
materials housed in the exhibit.
“Yellow Terror: The Collections and
Paintings of Roger Shimomura,” which is
open to the public Tuesday through
Saturday from 11:00am to 3:00pm and
Sunday from noon to 3:00pm, was brought
to ONLC as part of a grant awarded to the
Oregon Nikkei Endowment to work in
conjunction with the Common Core
Curriculum project Digital Citizenship
and Japanese American History.
The project is intended to teach middle
school students how to “become critical
thinkers, effective communicators, and
responsible citizens” through the study of
World
War
II-era
anti-Japanese
propaganda and its relation to prejudice
and stereotypes.
“The student groups that have already
come through and been able to see the
because they reflect the repercussions of a
country in fear, and its people in peril from
its own government.
“So many things in our political climate
come down to stereotypes of not just
people, but places and things. It’s an
oversimplistic way of viewing the world
and when it happens, the first thing to go
out the window is our sensitivity toward
people,” Shimomura said. “That’s why
stereotypes are so dangerous … they play
on our worst fears.”
“Yellow Terror” is on display April 11
through July 16 at the Oregon Nikkei
Legacy Center, located at 121 N.W. Second
Avenue in Portland. To learn more, or to
verify open hours, call (503) 224-1458 or
visit <www.oregonnikkei.org>.
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Thai jungle seen as breeding
ground for Indochinese tigers
Continued from page 16
ing and illegal rosewood logging” in the
eastern jungle.
“The Thai forestry department proved
that with protection you can not only bring
tigers back, but now the western forest
complex, specifically Huai Kha Khaeng, is
a global model of tiger conservation,” Alan
Rabinowitz, the chief executive officer of
Panthera said in a video call from New
York. “It is one of the best protected and
best tiger areas left in the world. Thailand
has shown that you can protect tigers and
bring them back. They can do this now in
the eastern forest complex as they’ve done
in the western forest complex.”
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